Agriculture Ministry sign MoU with Microsoft for farmer welfare

The Agricultural Ministry of India recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft to implement a pilot project for farmer welfare.

About the Project

• The project will focus on technology boosted agriculture.
• It will provide smart agricultural techniques to the farmers especially during post-harvest season.
• The project is to be launched in hundred villages of six states.
• The six states selected for the project are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.
• It will carry out various tasks for the betterment of farmers.

Microsoft Welfare Programmes in India

• In 2019, Microsoft India launched Project ReWeave to help handloom weavers. The project aims to revive handloom weaving ecosystem in India. An E-Commerce platform was launched under the project. It will help weavers to increase their income.
• Microsoft has partnered with AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) to empower educators and learners with future ready skills.
• It has joined with the National Skill Development Corporation to provide digital skills to more than one lakh underserved women in India. Under the programme, Microsoft will provide a series of live training sessions and help create opportunities for women and young girls.

Agriculture in India

• India ranks second in farm output in the world. More than 50% of workforce in India are employed in agriculture. They contribute 17% to 18% of GDP of India.
• India exports 38 billion USD worth agricultural products. This makes India the seventh largest agricultural exporter in the world.
• Though, the output of Indian agricultural sector is good, productivity is low. Agricultural Productivity is the ratio between agricultural output to input.