Mahindra and Mahindra, one of the biggest conglomerates in India, recently purchased an 11.25% stake in a Switzerland-based agri-tech company for a total of ₹30 crore. This comes at a time where Mahindra is doubling down on its farm equipment sector, aiming to provide an end-to-end solution for farmers.
Gamaya offers solutions for the monitoring of crops. To do so, they use hyperspectral and satellite imaging, along with big data processing, machine learning and data science. The company has created a product that analyzes farmland, weather conditions and many more factors to predict crop yield and prevent the spread of disease or weeds.
Along with this, they also have a hyperspectral imaging camera in a small form factor that can derive data by simply scanning the fields. This, along with climate and temperature data, is plugged into a region-specific machine learning model.
The model not only derives actionable insights on the state of the crops but also enables farmers to identify whether a crop is lacking in any way. The solution is also able to infer whether the plant has any nutrient deficiencies, diseases and more.
In addition to this, the solutions also use additional machine learning models to recommend the right amount of fertilizers and various pesticides. These recommendations are tailored to each individual farmland’s crops and fields.
The company offers a product for sugarcane farming and soybean cultivation currently, with more products in the pipeline.
Mahindra also seems to be interested in deploying the solution widely in India, with Rajesh Jejurikar, President at Mahindra FES, stating,
“Our strategic association with Gamaya will enable us to develop and deploy next-generation farming capabilities such as precision agriculture and digital farming technologies.”
The move could represent one of the agri-tech giants in India moving towards a new business proposition. Technologies that allow for a smarter way of farming also increase the sustainability of the land. This increases overall crop yield and profit margins for farmers.
Mahindra’s foray into AI-based agronomy solutions could begin an age of using ML for smarter and more sustainable farming practices.
