Government of Uttar Pradesh and Google Cloud India Announce the Gemini-Powered Uttar Pradesh Open Network for Agriculture
Google Cloud has partnered with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to launch the Gemini-powered Beckn-enabled Uttar Pradesh Open Network for Agriculture. This initiative aims to provide millions of farmers with a one-stop access point to essential services such as advisory services, credit, mechanization, and market linkages to sell their produce.
At the annual flagship Google for India event in October 2024, Google emphasized leveraging AI for impact, leading to the establishment of this Open Network. The network will be enabled by Google's Gemini agentic framework, allowing farmers to access it through voice commands in various languages including Hindi, Bangla, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, and Punjabi, with more languages planned for addition in 2025.
Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture
The Beckn Open Network for Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh is designed as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as part of the state's efforts in digitizing the agricultural ecosystem. This DPI, a first-of-its-kind for agriculture in India, leverages Google Cloud's DPI-in-a-box offering along with the Beckn Protocol, an open standard promoting interoperability and decentralized discovery of products and services.
Unlike traditional marketplace apps, the Open Network for Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh is open and decentralized, allowing any service provider or government agency to easily join the network. This fosters innovation, competition, and the development of farmer-facing solutions.
Quotes from Key Stakeholders
"This agreement demonstrates the Uttar Pradesh government’s commitment to good governance and digital empowerment. The Open Network for Agriculture is a major step toward doubling farmers’ income in Uttar Pradesh. It provides quick, accurate information on micro-climate and market prices, integrating data from weather stations installed in almost every tehsil. By leveraging AI, it addresses the digital divide and equips our farmers with the tools and resources they need to thrive in today’s day and age," remarked Shri Manoj Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh.
"We are proud to partner with the government of Uttar Pradesh on this pioneering initiative. Technology is a critical building block for accelerating the state’s progress in agriculture, and through this Gemini-powered Open Network, the government has created an open and decentralized approach that innovators can leverage to build and deploy solutions for farmers," expressed Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President and Country MD, Google Cloud India.
"We are committed to bringing the benefits of Gemini-powered DPIs to people around the world," added Anil Bhansali, VP Engineering and Head of India Development Center at Google Cloud India.
"The digital economy in India is still not reaching its true potential, especially when it comes to unlocking access and enabling the exchange of value at population scale. Beckn aims to change that by demonstrating how agri-commerce and agri-advisory can be open, decentralized, and value-generating for everyone. We’re thrilled to see the Uttar Pradesh Government and Google Cloud India leverage Beckn Protocol to launch a state-wide Open Network for Agriculture in India," said Sujith Nair, CEO and Co-Founder of FIDE (Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy).
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