Amazon, Microsoft swoop in on US$24bil India farm-data trove

A farmer sells vegetables from a stall outside her farmhouse in Madhya Pradesh, India. US tech giants are looking to farm data from India's farmers in a government-led drive to transform its agricultural industry. — Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. are among technology giants lining up to harness data from India’s farmers in an ambitious government-led productivity drive aimed at transforming an outmoded agricultural industry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, which is seeking to ensure food security in the world’s second-most populous nation, has signed preliminary agreements with the three US titans and a slew of local businesses starting April to share farm statistics it’s been gathering since coming to power in 2014. Modi is betting the private sector can help farmers boost yields with apps and tools built from information such as crop output, soil quality and land holdings.