Pune: Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly change the economics of sugarcane farming and improve the livelihoods of farmers, reports The Hindustan Times.
Pawar was speaking at a programme focused on the role of AI in farming, especially in crops like sugarcane, rice, and horticulture. The event was attended by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, and cooperation minister Balasaheb Patil.
During the event, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Vasantdada Sugar Institute and Agricultural Development Trust to work together on bringing AI technology to more farmers.
Highlighting existing challenges, Pawar said that many sugar mills are facing shortages of sugarcane, resulting in crushing seasons that last just around 100 days or even less. This, he noted, leads to the underuse of machinery and affects the mills’ financial health.
“The way forward is to increase sugarcane yield per acre, and AI can help us do that,” Pawar said. “With higher yields, mills can produce more sugar and by-products like ethanol. This will help improve farmers’ incomes and support the entire sugar sector. That’s why we need to adopt AI on a larger scale.”
He added that while AI can benefit all types of crops, its impact will be most noticeable in sugarcane farming.
Pawar also shared that the Agricultural Development Trust has partnered with Oxford University to begin a project focused on AI in farming. Experts from the Trust and the Vasantdada Sugar Institute are exploring how to install weather stations and field shelters to support better sugarcane growth. These experts will travel to various sugar factories to provide guidance.
He also pointed out a gap in the performance of agriculture officers working with sugar factories. “Most of them focus only on planting and harvesting schedules or transport. They rarely look at how to improve the quality of cane or the recovery rate,” Pawar said. “All cooperative sugar factories must work on strengthening their agriculture departments. If necessary, the Vasantdada Sugar Institute will provide training.”
On the cost of introducing AI in sugarcane fields, Pawar said the setup cost is ₹25,000 per hectare. This cost will be split among the farmer (₹9,000), the sugar factory (₹6,750), and the Vasantdada Institute (₹9,250). He added that the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank and the agriculture department are also showing interest in supporting this project.
Pawar concluded by emphasizing the importance of drip irrigation in successfully using AI. He called on major drip irrigation system manufacturers to reduce prices to make the technology more accessible to farmers.
