Motorola’s Aakashvani helps 17,000 Haryana farmers with AI weather insights

CHANDIGARH: When the weather gets smarter, farming can get a little easier. Motorola’s Aakashvani programme has completed its deployment in Haryana, using artificial intelligence and hyperlocal weather data to support around 17,000 farmers across villages in Kurukshetra and Yamuna Nagar.

The programme, jointly implemented by Motorola Mobility, Tarq Foundation, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and ANNAM.AI, has installed 35 automated weather stations across the two districts.

Motorola has now handed over the programme’s completion certificate to the Government of Haryana in the presence of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and other officials.

The weather stations collect localised data on rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and atmospheric pressure. This information is used to generate real-time forecasts, early warnings and practical advisories for farmers.

The insights are designed to help farmers make better decisions around sowing, irrigation, crop protection and harvesting, while improving preparedness for extreme weather events.

The programme also uses WhatsApp alerts and Panchayat-led communication to distribute weather information within communities. Training and capacity-building initiatives have been used to help farmers and local stakeholders understand and act on the information.

Beyond day-to-day farming decisions, the programme generates verifiable weather datasets that can support climate-risk planning and crop insurance claim validation. Motorola said continuous monitoring, maintenance and technical support have also been put in place to improve the reliability of the weather stations and advisory systems.

The need for such information is particularly relevant as changing weather patterns affect agricultural productivity. A baseline assessment by Motorola found that 82 per cent of farmers in the project villages had experienced significant climate-related crop losses, while only 21 per cent were using weather forecasts to inform farming decisions.

The Aakashvani programme was designed to bridge that gap by translating complex weather data into simple, village-level information that farmers can use.

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said technology can help farmers make more informed decisions and respond better to changing weather conditions, while describing the programme as a welcome effort to bring hyperlocal weather information closer to farming communities.

Motorola India managing director T M Narasimhan said the programme demonstrates how AI can turn hyperlocal weather intelligence into actionable insights that help farmers make informed decisions, strengthen climate resilience and protect livelihoods.

The company said it will extend Aakashvani to villages in Uttar Pradesh this year. The expansion will take the AI-powered weather intelligence model to a larger farming community, as Motorola looks to use technology not just to forecast the weather, but to help communities prepare for what it brings.