Mumbai: St. Xavier’s College starts new projects under centre for Agricultural and Rural Studies

Mumbai: St. Xavier’s College’s new Research Centre for Agricultural and Rural Studies (RUSA Sponsored) has started work on two projects; Application of Artificial Intelligence Technology in Farming and Significance of Pesticides Detection and Removal from the Farm Produce.

The new research centre also worked on the “Farmers Financial Literacy Program” in various districts of Maharashtra while working on research collaboration with State and National Agricultural Universities and Institutes. The project has also installed Sensors for measuring soil moisture, leaf wetness, soil salinity, and temperature. The data from the sensors is analysed for more fine-tuning of weather conditions.

Dr. Aditi Sawant, Coordinator of the New Research Centre and Head, of the Department of Economics, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai said, “These innovative projects will be beneficial for farmers and end consumers. For a pilot study of AI Technology, we have selected Narayangaon, Pune as a starting point, and for the Pesticides Detection and Removal Project, we have selected Palghar, Pune, Satara, Nasik, Akola, Amaravati districts of Maharashtra,”

Prof Subhash Kumar, in charge of this AI Technology project, added, “This project will help farmers to get an accurate prediction of weather for their village and also help to prevent the loss of crop due to weather conditions.”

Dr. Ashma Aggarwal heads the project on ‘Significance of Pesticides Detection and its Removal from Farm Produce.' According to her, this study will help farmers become aware of the harmful effects of pesticide remains in the farm produce and the importance of its extraction and removal before final consumption.