Phurpa Dorji’s AI-Powered Precision Agriculture wins Best Innovative Idea at Regional Youth Innovation Championship in Thailand

Phurpa Dorji, 21

16/10/2024

Phurpa Dorji’s AI-powered crop monitoring system won the best Innovative Idea at the Regional Youth Innovation Championship for agrifood system transformation in Thailand on October 16. Phurpa’s project aims to transform small to medium-sized farms in Trashigang through an AI-driven precision agriculture system. Using real-time analytics, IoT sensors, and drones, this innovation addresses local challenges like limited land and labor shortages while contributing to Sustainable Development Goals such as zero hunger and climate action.

Phurpa, a 21-year-old third-year student at Gyalpoizhing College of Information Technology, is specialising in AI and Data Science. His team, consisting of nine members won the National Youth-Led Agrifood Innovation Challenge during National Youth Symposium in August this year.

Last year, as part of their second-year project, Phurpa Dorji and his friends formed a group called 'TechWiz' to study social issues. They identified a major problem faced by Bhutanese farmers—crop loss caused by delayed detection of pests and diseases. Without real-time monitoring, crops suffered significant damage.

Phurpa explained that their solution was an AI-powered mobile app that allows farmers to monitor their crops using images taken on their phones. The app will have two simple navigation buttons: after capturing an image, it will identify the pest or disease and automatically suggest a solution. The system can also be used by local agriculture centers to provide timely assistance to farmers.

The app features image-based crop analysis, real-time monitoring, automatic issue detection, data-driven insights, and localized recommendations.

The team has also partnered with NoMind Bhutan for further development and initiatives.

Organized by Youth Co:lab, co-led by United Nations Development Programme - UNDP Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)and Citi Foundation, the challenge is organized as part of the World Food Forum (WFF), and aligned with the regional Science and Innovation action plan. It provides a platform for young entrepreneurs in agrifood systems to display innovative solutions that promote sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.

The challenge highlighted ten young social entrepreneurs from the region who are developing solutions that are strengthening agrifood systems while contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation, and inclusive economic growth.

WFF is a youth-led movement and network to transform our agrifood systems that is committed to the theme “𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰.”