Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar Share Stage Again to Discuss AI; Talks of Merging Parties Abuzz

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and his estranged nephew, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, shared the stage for the third time in a fortnight on Monday, this time to discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agriculture and the sugar industry.

- Siddharth Gadkari

PUNE:

The meeting, held at the Sugar Commissionerate at Shivajinagar in Pune, lasted over an hour and a half and was attended by officials from the Vasantdada Sugar Institute.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ajit Pawar said topics such as leveraging AI to boost farm productivity, improve soil fertility, and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers were discussed at the meeting.

"We discussed how AI can help increase agricultural output, improve soil health, and reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers. Firms like Microsoft are supporting initiatives in this space. The agriculture department also shared some of its ongoing efforts, and best practices to improve sugar production were discussed," he said.