APART gives crop cutting experiments mandate to Leads Connect

The Government of Assam (GoA), for its World Bank-backed project, Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) has given the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) mandate to Noida-based Agri-tech company, Leads Connect. The agritech will conduct the CCE in 23 districts of the Assam state on a pilot basis.

APART was launched in the year 2018 by the Government of Assam through the Government of India and received huge funds from World Bank to uplift the state's agricultural sector and encourage farmers to use technology to increase production.

On being appointed, Navneet Ravikar, chairman and managing director, Leads Connect Services, informed, "Getting a mandate to conduct CCE for different zones of Assam is a huge achievement for us an organization, and we are very excited and prepared to deliver the project successfully".

He further added, "It is now indispensable to develop measures and frameworks for climate-resilient agriculture for addressing the issues of food insecurity. Therefore, it is important to use advanced technology such as geospatial technology, artificial intelligence, and comprehensive field observations. Performing these studies with sheer accuracy and precision are keys to providing people-centric solutions besides the necessity of upscaling developed solutions. So, the research unit of the organization will also be utilizing this opportunity to further their research and development activities for developing quality products in the context of climate-resilient agriculture and disaster management, as these aspects are now needed to be studied in sync."

With cutting-edge technologies such as Remote Sensing and GIS, Numerical Modeling, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics frameworks, Leads Connect will co-observe the CCEs conducted by the State Government of Assam. This pilot study will start from September 2021 and will be done for Kharif 2021. The agritech is currently engaged in delivering projects in more than 100 districts of India and has a Pan-India presence backed by a comprehensive field team and well-equipped research lab.

Leads Connect is an analytics company with a core focus on Agri-technology driven Data Analysis and Modelling, Risk Management, and Financial Services. It aims to connect the farm value chain for enabling a sustainable, scalable, and profitable agri-business ecosystem. Besides the core focus areas, the organization has been engaged in research and development-based analytics related to climate and hazard, landscape, biodiversity, city, and geospatial analytics.

Leads Connect has delivered projects related to crop cutting experiments (CCEs), Remote Sensing based crop health monitoring, crop acreage, crop yield estimates, risk and claim management services to various central and state organizations, insurers, and reinsurers. In addition, they have delivered projects about GP level yield estimation using technology. It has used machine learning algorithms and satellite remote sensing analytics to develop a framework for yield estimation at the GP level. They are currently monitoring CCEs for PMFBY in more than 100 districts across India along with Geotagging of Agriculture Infrastructures in 125 districts for NABCONS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD.