Pune, June 9 (IANS) On the eve of the foundation of the NCP which is slated for Tuesday and amid the talks of alliance for upcoming local and civic body elections in Maharashtra, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, who is the chairman of Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) and NCP president Ajit Pawar — the Deputy Chief Minister, shared the dais on Monday to discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence for increase in production of sugarcane, rice, orchards and other crops.

Both, however, skipped the questions on poll alliance and reiterated that the discussions purely revolved around the application of AI in agriculture and how it will benefit the farmers.

Incidentally, both NCP factions have organised rallies at Pune to celebrate the completion of 26 years of the formation of NCP. Further, both groups have denied talks of merger or of an alliance.

Besides the Pawar duo, Maharashtra ministers Hasan Mushrif, Babasaheb Patil and Manikrao Kokate, former deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories chairman Harshvardhan Patil and state NCP chief Jayant Patil were also present at the seminar.

Sharad Pawar in his speech said that for the use of AI to boost sugarcane production and productivity the agreement has been signed today between the VSI and the Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati.

“Through this agreement, we will explore how this technology can reach the maximum number of farmers. The West Indian Sugar Mills Association and the National Cooperative Sugar Factory Federation will also provide significant support in this endeavour,” he added.

“Although the area under sugarcane cultivation is large today, there are many shortcomings in terms of productivity. There is a need to make efforts to address these shortcomings. Several speakers have already presented many thoughts on the issue of sugar factories’ income. Most factories do not have enough sugarcane. As a result, the crushing period lasts for a hundred days or even less, which is the reality. Consequently, the machinery of the factories is not fully utilized, which adversely affects their economy. Therefore, we need to find a solution, and the most important solution is to increase the per-acre yield of sugarcane. For this, using artificial intelligence to enhance sugarcane productivity, and in turn, maximizing the production of sugar and byproducts like ethanol, is the answer,” he remarked.

“Therefore, we thought that if we provide water and fertilizers to sugarcane at the right time and guide farmers, we can use artificial intelligence to increase productivity, which will definitely benefit the farmers,” said Pawar.

In his speech, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also supported the use of AI in agriculture and especially in increasing the productivity and production of sugarcane in Maharashtra. He also mentioned that ethanol and some other by-products must be produced by the farmers.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

–IANS

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