An engineering college near Mysuru is helping farmers choose crops which are best suited for their land after studying soil conditions, weather and other factors critical for a good harvest.
The college has been supporting its advice with inputs on market trends to ensure that farmers get the best returns for their produce.
Perspective agriculture
Describing the concept as ‘Perspective agriculture’, the faculty at the Maharaja Institute of Technology through Maharaja Research Foundation has started to use wireless sensor networks to recommend the type of crops after studying critical factors and market needs.
Wireless networks have been utilised for enhancing crop yields through precision agriculture in countries such as the United States.
The primary aim of the joint initiative of the college, the College of Horticulture, Mysuru, and the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Program (SKDRDP) is to improve farm productivity and profits to farmers with the help of using technology.
A group of farmers from Palahalli and Meghalapura near Mysuru, and Bellale near Pandavapura, were identified for the initiative and each one of them has received wireless sensor network devices to access information.
Dr. Mahesh Rao from the Department of Electronics and Communication, Maharaja Institute of Technology, told The Hindu that about 50 farmers from the two villages had joined the initiative and will be trained in handling the devices at a workshop to be held at Gopalaswamy Institute in Mysuru on Monday.
“We provide the technology while the College of Horticulture gives the data on soil and crops, and the SKDRDP identifies farmers. The idea is to make agriculture sustainable by collecting data, forming a model using simulation software and predicting the best suited crop after analysing the soil and market conditions,” he explained.
He said the initiative was launched six months ago. The villages and farmers had been identified, and the team was gearing up for the next cropping season to implement the idea. 
“We need to train the farmers on handling the devices which will be given to them free, for accessing data sourced from our network,” he added. Citing an example, Dr. Rao said the cost of tomato per quintal in August last year was around Rs. 650 in Mysuru while the price was Rs. 450 per quintal in Mandya and Rs. 1,900 per quintal in Uttara Kannada.
“We will provide market trends to farmers so that they can get higher returns.”