Smart Farming: A possibility for cotton growers in India?

By Aishwarya Das Pattnaik, WWF India.

On a hot and dry summer morning in Solgavhan village, Jalna district, Pandurang was taking shade underneath a sweet-lemon tree.  

There was a power cut in the area – a regular occurrence. Once the power supply was restored, an SMS alerted him about it. After a short interval, he received an advisory call on his mobile, which informed him to turn on his water pump. An automated SMS notification followed next, carrying the same set of instructions. 

He operates the water pump to irrigate his field with a mere call! 

“This is possible thanks to the Cotton Doctor application,” credits Pandurang. “The app has been a great boon to my family and me. Without venturing into the field, I get to water my crops timely.” 

A sim card has been installed in an Automatic Irrigation Switch (AIS) attached to his motor pump. “Through the Cotton Doctor app on my smartphone, I can water my crops anywhere. Additionally, the advisories we receive from the app help me to control pesticide use. Now I only spray the recommended pesticides for thrips (sucking pests) to save my plants, with good results,” he proudly explains.

Cotton Doc is an Android and web-based Decision Support System (DSS). This agri-tech tool alerts farmers like him about weather vulnerabilities and assists them to make informed decisions on cotton cultivation. 

The app empowers farmers with timely and vital information. These include data on soil moisture levels, rainfall, pesticides to be used, and list mandi (large market) prices to fetch the best deal. Likewise, the app allows farmers to directly upload photos of crops infested with pests. 

“Cotton Doc gives me quick solutions to battle pest attacks. I only spray the amount of pesticides prescribed by the app.”

He grins and adds, “You see, I am operating the pump from my home. I don´t have to go to the “mandi” anymore, which is 35 km away from my home, to check prices. This saves me a great deal on fuel. I use my free time with my family of seven. Small changes like these make a world of difference to me. My children love spending more time with me. I get to save money, water, and time.” A triple bonanza indeed! 

The “Cotton Doctor” app, an innovative farming system, has been growing in the region. The app is considered the harbinger of modern farming across India’s cotton belt, covering the highest cotton-growing states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, among others. Its usage provides maximum benefits and better, more sustainable returns from cotton production. Today the app is benefiting over 4000 cotton growers in the Jalna district. 

The Cotton Doc app is one of the projects that was developed as part of the longstanding partnership between WWF and IKEA. The partnership collaborates on forests, cotton, freshwater and climate to protect and enhance biodiversity with the overall goal to support the transition towards more sustainable business practices.

Adapting to increasing climate risks in Maharashtra

Maharashtra is India’s largest cotton production area, but the land lacks yield. Limited irrigation facilities, less suitable soils, and common pest incidents are putting cotton farmers in a difficult situation. Given its semi-arid weather conditions, the landscape is particularly vulnerable to climate risks, witnessing increased maximum and minimum temperatures, a decline in mean monthly rainfall, and more frequent, heavy rainy days. 

“Last year, we experienced hefty rainfalls. Fortunately, the app triggered week-long weather forecast alerts and warned us of the incoming rain. I did not spray fertilisers or pesticides for an entire week – excessive rain can wash it away,” says Pandurang. “After receiving the weather forecast, I was able to save water by controlling irrigation across my 4 acres’ cotton farm,” he asserts. 

A similar story was unfolding in Nivdunga village, another block 51 km (31 miles) away from Solgavhan village. Manjusha has been toiling in the cotton field like her husband for the past 23 years. Just a year back, she faced trouble farming cotton. Manjusha did not know when to spray fertilisers and was not adequately aware of newer pesticide control methods. 

Today, she feels at ease. 

The cheerful, yet shy 40-year-old explains, “You know, in 2019-2020, pests like pink bollworm and thrips regularly infested my cotton crops. I didn´t know much about how to deal with this, so I bought unnecessary pesticides and wasted my money.” 

“Just one year later, in 2021, WWF India’s field team introduced my husband and me to the Cotton Doc app. We started receiving various advisories in Marathi (one of the 22 Indian languages). My problems disappeared, like the sun breaking through the clouds,” says Manjusha, smiling ear to ear.

In October 2021, just before Diwali (the festival of lights), she and her husband received alerts on their phones predicting prolonged rainfall in October. “Thankfully, I covered my soybean harvest kept in the open field and we promptly picked all the cotton from the field also,“ Manjusha utters She saved both her cotton and soybean yield because of this innovative technology.

Since then, she has been one of Cotton Doctor app’s most enthusiastic advocates. She has been encouraging other farmers in her village to download the app on their smart phones. Currently, approximately 100 farmers in her village are using the app on a daily basis. 

The app technology will be improved in the coming years to become more precise and accurate. Additionally, to enhance reach and engage more farmers to avail the app’s services, WWF India along with other stakeholders are working to provide similar information on other crops grown by cotton farmers. With heatwaves gripping large parts of the country and other vagaries of climate change, such technological advances offer a window of hope to India’s farmers!