Girl from UP wins award for developing app for soil identification

Lalitpur (Uttar Pradesh): A 14-year-old girl from a village in Lalitpur district has ranked among the top 20 in the country, and the only one from Uttar Pradesh in the artificial intelligence-based innovative project exhibition and award ceremony, held in Delhi recently.

Nandini Kushwaha has been awarded for devising a smart data-based AI tool that identifies the most suitable crop for soil by analysing the various nutritional components present in it.

The entire initiative has been envisioned under the national programme for government schools, named 'Responsible AI for youth'. It has been conceived and designed jointly by the national e-governance division, ministry of electronics and information technology, the government of India and Intel India.

Nandini, a resident of the Patha village under Mahroni tehsil of Lalitpur district, is a student of Class 9 of the Government Girls Inter College (GGIC).

She was inspired by her mathematics teacher Prakash Bhushan Mishra during the Covid-19 lockdown, when the specially devised website under project 'Responsible AI for youth' was launched.

At that time, she was in Class 8 in the upper primary school in her village.

Nandani took online classes through her mobile phone and showed her talent. Later, she was gifted a laptop by Intel India, which further pushed her motivation.

Seeing the day-to-day problems related to skewed crop production because of poor soil quality, Nandini based her project on the issue and named it 'Mitti ko jano, fasal pehchano'.

Nandini told reporters, "It is a smart data-based AI tool that identifies the most suitable crop for soil by analysing the various nutritional components present in it. This model can be deployed as a physical soil detection tool that will help farmers to understand their soil accurately and make decisions."

She explained, "With the help of my AI project, data is retrieved from the mud for its content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, temperature, humidity content, PH value and rainfall. Based on these data, we can predict the right choice of crop for getting optimal production. I have seen all the farmers, including my father, face this challenge of low crop production for years."

Chief development officer (CDO) Lalitpur, Anil Kumar Pandey said, "It is a very inspiring story for all the students of the district as well as the state. We will not only felicitate her once she comes here, but will set her example to motivate other students also."

Her father, Jamuna Prasad Kushwaha, a farmer, meanwhile, has no idea as to what his daughter has achieved.

"I know she has got a big award and I am thankful to God for this," he said.