SRINAGAR: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) has secured an international research grant under the Indo-US Collaborative Research Programme to develop artificial intelligence-based technologies for soybean breeding and crop monitoring.
The three-year project, titled SoyWatch: Smart Sensing Network for Precision Soybean Breeding, is jointly supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The initiative brings together six research institutions from India and the United States to combine artificial intelligence (AI) and smart sensing technologies for improved crop monitoring, early disease detection and precision breeding.
The US partners include the University of Memphis, the University of Missouri and Kennesaw State University, while the Indian institutions are IIT Delhi, SKUAST-K and the ICAR-National Soybean Research Institute, Indore.
Representing SKUAST-K in the project are Dr Ajaz Ahmed Lone, Professor in the Division of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the Dryland Agriculture Research Station (DARS), Rangreth, and Dr Shabir Hussain Wani, Associate Professor in the same division at the Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops (MRCFC), Khudwani.
The project will develop a smart sensing network supported by multimodal AI tools to analyse field data and provide useful information for plant breeding research. The system is expected to enable accurate assessment of crop performance, early detection of pests and diseases, and improved yield predictions.
These technological interventions are intended to help researchers evaluate crop characteristics more efficiently, improve breeding decisions and speed up the development of better-performing soybean varieties.
The project is scheduled to begin in October 2026 and will continue for three years, drawing on the participating institutions’ expertise in plant genetics, breeding, artificial intelligence and smart sensing.
SKUAST-K Vice-Chancellor Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai congratulated the researchers on securing the grant and said the collaboration with leading institutions in India and the US would strengthen the university’s research capabilities and create further opportunities for innovation in agricultural science.
