Reliance Jio’s 5G IoT (Internet-of-Things) solutions, namely JioKrishi and JioGauSamriddhi, are revolutionizing agricultural practices and cattle rearing in Indian villages. The JioKrishi IoT device gathers real-time data from farms, including soil monitoring, water levels, and weather conditions. This data empowers farmers to make informed decisions, ultimately leading to enhanced crop yield while also reducing costs.
In dairy farming, the JioGauSamriddhi device, affixed to a cattle’s neck, measures vital signs and activities such as rumination. Adopted by numerous cattle farmers in cooperatives like Amul and Mother Dairy, these devices play a pivotal role in optimizing cattle management and improving overall efficiency in dairy operations.
What is JioKrishi?
The multi-part IoT structure, coupled with a Jio router, can be installed at the center of a farm to monitor various parameters such as weather conditions, soil composition, crop stage, and water quantity. It sends real-time alerts to farmers via a mobile app and SMS notifications. Currently deployed across 50,000 acres of farmland spanning 26 crop categories, this system has reportedly increased yield by 15%, as indicated on its website. Padamakar Patil, a fruit cultivator from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, attests to the system’s efficacy, citing improved water schedule management and humidity checks that have enabled him to produce export-quality bananas shipped to Europe for the first time in 2022.
Patil emphasizes the critical role of time-sensitive water management in banana cultivation, which has led to higher-quality produce and prevented diseases like Kharpa. Many farmers, including Patil, have successfully exported bananas to Europe, fetching prices as high as Rs3200/quintal. Patil invested Rs50,000 to install two such devices on his farms, along with a mid-range Android phone. Another farmer, Sivaram Kalane from Ahmednagar, highlights how active water monitoring has boosted the quality of his grapes, enabling him to sell them at Rs120/kg, compared to Rs80/kg previously.
Kalane plans to resume orange cultivation, which he had abandoned due to heavy losses amidst adverse weather conditions.
What is JioGauSamriddhi?
JioGauSamriddhi, on the other hand, is a neck-tag equipped with sensors to monitor a cow’s activity, providing insights into its health, pregnancy cycles, and rumination. Deployed on large farms housing up to 50,000 cows, this full-stack solution offers advanced analytics and real-time alerts on milking cycles and efficient time management. Gayatri Jamdar from Satara, who utilizes 12 such sensors, notes that the solution has reduced daily milk loss by an average of two hours by providing real-time graphs of her cattle’s heat cycles. She acquired these tags at a price of Rs3000 each in 2021.
