A three-week national hands-on training programme on Machine Learning Technology commenced at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, (SKUAST) Kashmir with an aim to prepare human capital for the tech-driven job market and new-age agripreneurship.
According to a statement, the online training programme has been organised by World Bank-ICAR funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) for institutional development of SKUASTK in collaboration with varsity’s Agromet Division.About 47 participants from across the country including students, scholars and faculty from various agricultural universities of the country are taking part in the three-week ‘Hands-on Training on Machine Learning: A Practical Approach’.Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof Mushtaq Ahmad; Director, Planning and PI NAHEP, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai; Nodal Officer Agromet Division and course director, Dr Sameera Qayoom, HRM Consultant Prof FA Zaki and various heads, faculty members and students attended the inaugural session.
The programme is being coordinated by the IDP-NAHEP team of the SKUAST-K.While speaking at the inaugural function of the programme, Prof Ganai said SKUAST-K has paced up the activities for the transformation of agri-education and linking education with future technologies,innovation, entrepreneurship and the new-age job market.“In order to compete and be at par with the 4th Gen industrial revolution, SKUAST K under the ambit of NAHEP is working with top national, international institutes and tech companies to infuse the innovative and tech-driven startup culture among students,” he said.Sameera Qayoom, in her address said, Machine Learning techniques are playing a vital role in every sector, including agriculture these days.
The implementation of AI&ML enable agriculturists to access increasingly sophisticated data and provide analytics tools, which help them in efficient and effective decision making for better yield and quality crop production, she said.Prof Zaki, at the occasion, said given the rising demand for food, automation of agriculture is the main concern as the traditional farming methods are not sufficient to fulfil the requirements, so there is an inherent and indispensable need for use of artificial intelligence in agriculture and allied sectors.Various national and international experts on AI&ML are delivering the training which aims to teach students the fundamentals of AI&ML and its real-time applicability in agriculture including data processing and analytics.
