Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan presented a digital tool for analyzing climate risks called CLiMAQ during the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Sustainable Development Summit on Thursday. This tool was launched following large-scale flash floods that devastated Nepal.
CLiMAQ provides enterprises and businesses with hyper-local information on climate risks, as well as forecasts of future risks. In an interview with Business Standard, Anup Jindal, CEO and Managing Director of RMSI, and Roli Jindal, Co-founder and CEO of RMSI Cropaltyics, discussed the scope and applicability of this tool.
How does the tool help industries?
Anup noted that the tool solves the problem of how industries can understand how relevant projected temperature increases or precipitation levels are for a specific asset in a particular location. The tool takes climate models and translates them into a resolution appropriate for the industry's operational activities.
How does the tool work?
Models developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provide information on climate risks and forecasts of future threats. RMSI's proprietary models then use data from IPCC models, resolving them at a much higher level of detail. Combined with business or expert location data, they determine the probable risk from such natural disasters. The company's models scale down to resolutions from 30 meters to 12 kilometers, depending on the type of hazard, whereas larger climate models typically operate at a level of 12 to 30 kilometers.
Furthermore, using proprietary models that combine artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with probability distribution, the company accounts for the nonlinearity of climate variables and their potential impact, as well as the probability of a disaster occurring in a specific location.
How is this tool useful for agriculture?
Roli explained that since India has 180 million hectares of agricultural land, all of it is mapped. This allows for observing the relationship between climate and agriculture on a national and macro level. For example, a seed company can determine which villages to target, how many hectares are there, and where to send personnel. Through remote sensing studies, differences can now be identified at a very micro-level, such as when a crop is healthy on one farm but not on another. Identifying plots row-by-row also helps determine which plot is under stress.
Anup added that these models are equally applicable to the agricultural sector, helping to address food security issues caused by climate change.
How have digital data helped stakeholders?
Roli reported that they collaborate with major export councils and associations dealing with the export of peanuts and sesame. Over the last three to four years, they have been forecasting the production of these crops in every district. In Uttar Pradesh, all agricultural reporting is done using satellite technology, which is essentially digital crop monitoring.
Who can access the tool and what is its cost?
Anup clarified that this Software as a Service (SaaS) solution is fully accessible via the internet. There are three versions of the tool: a free version that any small enterprise can use; a professional subscription version for larger enterprises; and an enterprise version with custom pricing. Roli added that corporate clients can receive the data and further distribute it among farmers.