Google takes India-first agri models to Asia Pacific

THEY HELP BUILD SIMPLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE AGRICULTURAL SOLUTIONS

- SUDHIR CHOWDHARY

INDIAN FARMERS FACE challenges from fragmented landholdings, which limit economies of scale, and from unpredictable weather, which heightens risk. Limited access to data-driven insights further constrains productivity, market access, and overall farm profitability. Google is stepping in to bring greater precision, scale, and intelligence to the country's farming ecosystem.

Researchers at Google DeepMind in Bengaluru have developed two foundational AI models—Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) and Agricultural Monitoring & Event Detection (AMED)—which utilise satellite imagery and machine learning to provide farmers with data-driven insights. Following their successful adoption here, Google is expanding their reach to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan.