Agriculture department signs MoU with the software giant to develop a farm price forecasting model

If all goes according to the plan, software giant Microsoft will come to the aid of Karnataka farmers who constantly struggle with an unpredictable market.

Karnataka Agriculture Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft India to develop a unique “farm price forecasting model” using latest IT tools in a bid to help farmers, administrators and other stakeholders to understand the market behaviour in advance. The proposed initiative is said to be the first-of-its-kind in the country as it is a “multi-variate” one that takes into consideration various factors beyond the conventional supply-demand equation while forecasting the prices for crops. It will examine a slew of related factors including weather, rainfall and external factors that impact market behaviour.

According to Dr. T.N. Prakash Kammaradi, chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Prices Commission, which is supervising the project, the model would help provide real-time market data, besides helping analyse its implications on farm sector. “What we are trying to achieve is predictability as well as stability of farm incomes,” he said. Knowing the market situation in advance would help farmers, policy makers and industry make informed decisions, he noted.

100-day work

On the other hand, the forecast would help the government prepare in advance for market intervention if there was an indication of price crash, he pointed out.

The model is expected to be in place for major crops by next kharif crops.

Microsoft has already taken up 100-day work on the price behaviour of onion and tur dal. Depending upon the outcome of this work, the price forecasting model would be applied to other crops later, Dr. Prakash said.

The State’s initiative appears to have already caught the attention of the Centre as it has sought suggestions from the KAPC on the importance of price forecasting on its initiative of doubling farmers’ incomes. It would also develop a software for providing sowing advisory services.