Mr Ananda Verma has built a system called Fasal aiming on bringing in data driven precision in the agricultural sector. This system, based on the inputs it picks from the field, reports what one needs to do when on the farm and also forecasts possible adversities so that it can be avoided.
Mr Anand Verma, can we get a brief introduction about yourself and what you do?
I did my Masters at Bangalore and have a farming background. My father is a farmer who produces and supplies vegetables to various places in India. I realised that there are lot of issues in the agricultural sector which can be solved using technology. So, Fasal began as a hobby project, honestly. I wanted to help my father with his agricultural practices. Agriculture in India and worldwide is driven more or less by traditional wisdom or guesswork. There is no data to back up decisions such as how much to irrigate your field and the right time to irrigate your field, etc. We built a small prototype where we had couple of sensors connected to a device which transmitted data to a server that was being monitored to understand how this data compliments your activities, if it changes with your activities or with conditions around your farm. We then started making certain models on top of it. After we did this experiment, we found out that, a lot of farmers in India are really unaware of what is happening on the field, what is happening with the weather, etc. They still follow the traditional practices. The weather patterns have changed in the last 5-10 years. Disease, pest and weather cannot be predicted like the way we did before. This is how Fasal evolved. Fasal is in itself a precision agriculture solution backed by data. Hence, all the decisions which you make on your farm - irrigation, fertigation, and spray for disease or pest - everything is backed by a logical data that comes from the device. Fasal has an IOT device that has a lot of sensors to monitor various things on the field like, the canopy level, the conditions below the soil, overall conditions like rainfall, air temperature, humidity, pH etc. All these data points get monitored frequently and gets uploaded to a cloud server where it gets processed. The farmer then gets a notification/information/advisory, as required. The information is not passed on to the farmers in the form of data alone but it is processed data in the form of actionable outcome. This is the jist of Fasal.
So, based on the data being processed Fasal shoots out an advisory to the farmer, is it?
At this point, Fasal provides information. It monitors farms and informs what needs to be done and when. At this point it doesn't automate anything on your farm.
What would be the approximate cost per acre be to implement these sensors on the farm?
There is the hardware cost and the software cost. So, you purchase the hardware and install it in your farm and then there is a nominal fee of Rs 750 a month. You pay that and you get all the advisories you would require like, irrigation schedule, sowing and harvest time, disease and pest forecast.
We do forecasts and that is quite an important point because it is proactive. It does not report diseases that has hit your farm. The tool forecasts the disease that can tend to strike the farm so that the farmer can take measures to control it. We have two kinds of hardware - we have a bigger hardware with all the sensors that I just mentioned and then we have satellite units which only has soil moisture sensors attached. On larger farms, the rainfall and wind speed doesn't change; but soil moisture can change. The hardware cost is around Rs 35,000 and the smaller unit is about Rs 25000/-. This is perhaps the most economical solution in precision agriculture today.
Can this is be used only for one crop or can you use it for multiple crops?
We are very crop-specific. This is because it takes a lot of time for us to gather data, understand the crop lifecycle and build these models. Currently we work with 7 crops - grapes, kiwi, capsicum, pomegranate, onion, potato and tomato. We are starting with tea, coffee and oranges. It takes about 1-2 crop cycles for us to make our solution ready for the next crop.
Has this solution been implemented at a farmer's unit?
Currently we are active in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Do you also share the data along with the forecasts?
Yes, it is shared. You can track data on your smartphone. The app shows you all the data points of your farm and then it shows you recommendations based on the data.
Does it work in open farms and closed ones like poly houses?
Yes, it is applicable in all scenarios. It is just that you probably do not need some sensors in some scenarios. For instance, in a closed environment you may not need wind speed and wind direction or rainfall sensors. So, you can choose the set up that you prefer as per your requirement.
Does the device have an idea of each plant, considering that it reports on pests etc.?
Fasal is based on the approximation of the entire farm. But, to answer your question, if the device is be able to catch pest attacks from one side or a small group of plants, it is a valid one. That is why we believe in a forecast approach. We don’t do detection. Our focus is on forecasts like in the next 6-7 days, there can be a pest attack. That way you can be more alert on your farm for pests. We do plan to implement visual solutions wherein we have area-based detection too.
When you have your data on the cloud, do you also provide integration with other solutions?
We have our systems available in the form of APIs. For example, if a farmer buys a solution from us and then he is also associated with a company that has provided him with automation, we can provide an API to make it a complete chain.
Can this be integrated with farm management like scheduling?
Yes, we can integrate our solution into farm management systems. We have APIs open in the form of various data products. One data product could be integration with an irrigation company or motor company. It can be easily integrated.
Have you made this technology in any particular front-end?
It is a cloud-based solution. You can access it on websites or apps. It is available on all platforms.
When someone looks for integrating with other solutions, who should be doing those integrations?
All the APIs and the documentation are ready to be integrated into other platforms. Right now, however, we have not provided any service in terms of integrating to a platform. But it can be done. We can help other companies to integrate their product into ours or vice versa.
What would be the cost involved to have this solution implemented in say 4 acres of land growing various crops?
The cost will be the same as stated earlier. For 4 acres you will need just one device to provide a complete end-to-end solution. The cost would be about Rs 35000/- for the hardware and about Rs 750 for the software. You need to just deploy the hardware in the middle of your farm and put the sensors in the soil. One of our field engineers will come and deploy it if you can't deploy it yourself.
Mr Verma, the most popular crops are ragi, wheat, millets like bajra, etc. and then vegetables like lady's finger etc. 80% area is drought prone, and it is subject to irrigation. Is there a possibility of getting a package for these kinds of farmers?
We understand this. We started focusing on horticulture crops with economics in mind - to build a sustainable company first. For paddy farmers it doesn't yield much in terms of commercial value in contrast to a chilly or capsicum farmer wherein 1 acre is a good portion of land where he can make added money, commercially. Fasal began with horticulture crops because those are the plants that need a lot of money in terms of input cost. Hence, we decided to optimize that first, build our company and then turn to paddy, rice, millets etc.
Contact-
Ananda Verma
Fasal
Wolkus Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd,
No.1678, 23rd Cross 27th Main Sector 1,
HSR Layout Bangalore, Karnataka 560102, India
Email: ananda.verma@wolkus.com
Mob: 8904470724
Mr Anand Verma, can we get a brief introduction about yourself and what you do?
I did my Masters at Bangalore and have a farming background. My father is a farmer who produces and supplies vegetables to various places in India. I realised that there are lot of issues in the agricultural sector which can be solved using technology. So, Fasal began as a hobby project, honestly. I wanted to help my father with his agricultural practices. Agriculture in India and worldwide is driven more or less by traditional wisdom or guesswork. There is no data to back up decisions such as how much to irrigate your field and the right time to irrigate your field, etc. We built a small prototype where we had couple of sensors connected to a device which transmitted data to a server that was being monitored to understand how this data compliments your activities, if it changes with your activities or with conditions around your farm. We then started making certain models on top of it. After we did this experiment, we found out that, a lot of farmers in India are really unaware of what is happening on the field, what is happening with the weather, etc. They still follow the traditional practices. The weather patterns have changed in the last 5-10 years. Disease, pest and weather cannot be predicted like the way we did before. This is how Fasal evolved. Fasal is in itself a precision agriculture solution backed by data. Hence, all the decisions which you make on your farm - irrigation, fertigation, and spray for disease or pest - everything is backed by a logical data that comes from the device. Fasal has an IOT device that has a lot of sensors to monitor various things on the field like, the canopy level, the conditions below the soil, overall conditions like rainfall, air temperature, humidity, pH etc. All these data points get monitored frequently and gets uploaded to a cloud server where it gets processed. The farmer then gets a notification/information/advisory, as required. The information is not passed on to the farmers in the form of data alone but it is processed data in the form of actionable outcome. This is the jist of Fasal.
So, based on the data being processed Fasal shoots out an advisory to the farmer, is it?
At this point, Fasal provides information. It monitors farms and informs what needs to be done and when. At this point it doesn't automate anything on your farm.
What would be the approximate cost per acre be to implement these sensors on the farm?
There is the hardware cost and the software cost. So, you purchase the hardware and install it in your farm and then there is a nominal fee of Rs 750 a month. You pay that and you get all the advisories you would require like, irrigation schedule, sowing and harvest time, disease and pest forecast.
We do forecasts and that is quite an important point because it is proactive. It does not report diseases that has hit your farm. The tool forecasts the disease that can tend to strike the farm so that the farmer can take measures to control it. We have two kinds of hardware - we have a bigger hardware with all the sensors that I just mentioned and then we have satellite units which only has soil moisture sensors attached. On larger farms, the rainfall and wind speed doesn't change; but soil moisture can change. The hardware cost is around Rs 35,000 and the smaller unit is about Rs 25000/-. This is perhaps the most economical solution in precision agriculture today.
Can this is be used only for one crop or can you use it for multiple crops?
We are very crop-specific. This is because it takes a lot of time for us to gather data, understand the crop lifecycle and build these models. Currently we work with 7 crops - grapes, kiwi, capsicum, pomegranate, onion, potato and tomato. We are starting with tea, coffee and oranges. It takes about 1-2 crop cycles for us to make our solution ready for the next crop.
Has this solution been implemented at a farmer's unit?
Currently we are active in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Do you also share the data along with the forecasts?
Yes, it is shared. You can track data on your smartphone. The app shows you all the data points of your farm and then it shows you recommendations based on the data.
Does it work in open farms and closed ones like poly houses?
Yes, it is applicable in all scenarios. It is just that you probably do not need some sensors in some scenarios. For instance, in a closed environment you may not need wind speed and wind direction or rainfall sensors. So, you can choose the set up that you prefer as per your requirement.
Does the device have an idea of each plant, considering that it reports on pests etc.?
Fasal is based on the approximation of the entire farm. But, to answer your question, if the device is be able to catch pest attacks from one side or a small group of plants, it is a valid one. That is why we believe in a forecast approach. We don’t do detection. Our focus is on forecasts like in the next 6-7 days, there can be a pest attack. That way you can be more alert on your farm for pests. We do plan to implement visual solutions wherein we have area-based detection too.
When you have your data on the cloud, do you also provide integration with other solutions?
We have our systems available in the form of APIs. For example, if a farmer buys a solution from us and then he is also associated with a company that has provided him with automation, we can provide an API to make it a complete chain.
Can this be integrated with farm management like scheduling?
Yes, we can integrate our solution into farm management systems. We have APIs open in the form of various data products. One data product could be integration with an irrigation company or motor company. It can be easily integrated.
Have you made this technology in any particular front-end?
It is a cloud-based solution. You can access it on websites or apps. It is available on all platforms.
When someone looks for integrating with other solutions, who should be doing those integrations?
All the APIs and the documentation are ready to be integrated into other platforms. Right now, however, we have not provided any service in terms of integrating to a platform. But it can be done. We can help other companies to integrate their product into ours or vice versa.
What would be the cost involved to have this solution implemented in say 4 acres of land growing various crops?
The cost will be the same as stated earlier. For 4 acres you will need just one device to provide a complete end-to-end solution. The cost would be about Rs 35000/- for the hardware and about Rs 750 for the software. You need to just deploy the hardware in the middle of your farm and put the sensors in the soil. One of our field engineers will come and deploy it if you can't deploy it yourself.
Mr Verma, the most popular crops are ragi, wheat, millets like bajra, etc. and then vegetables like lady's finger etc. 80% area is drought prone, and it is subject to irrigation. Is there a possibility of getting a package for these kinds of farmers?
We understand this. We started focusing on horticulture crops with economics in mind - to build a sustainable company first. For paddy farmers it doesn't yield much in terms of commercial value in contrast to a chilly or capsicum farmer wherein 1 acre is a good portion of land where he can make added money, commercially. Fasal began with horticulture crops because those are the plants that need a lot of money in terms of input cost. Hence, we decided to optimize that first, build our company and then turn to paddy, rice, millets etc.
Contact-
Ananda Verma
Fasal
Wolkus Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd,
No.1678, 23rd Cross 27th Main Sector 1,
HSR Layout Bangalore, Karnataka 560102, India
Email: ananda.verma@wolkus.com
Mob: 8904470724