Google Awards $3.3mn Grant To Developer Of Cotton Ace App

Google has given a US $3.3 million grant to Wadhwani AI as part of Google’s AI for the Global Goals challenge, aiming to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Global Goals.

Wadhwani AI’s existing Cotton Ace app, which helps farmers in fighting pests in cotton farms, will now be expanded to fight pests in other Indian crops.

The Cotton Ace app allows farmers to upload pictures of pests, which are then analysed by AI to offer data-driven solutions for addressing cotton crop damage.

The app also provides real-time information on weather, farming techniques, and crop prices, which has helped reduce pesticide cost by 25 percent and increase farmers’ profits by 20 percent.

Wadhwani AI is among the 15 organisations globally chosen to receive support through Google.org’s $25 million philanthropy challenge.