A few of the top 50 teams selected in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow education and innovation competition are out to change that perception with their ideas that look to help improve the lives of farmers. They want to make agriculture more sustainable and bring in a lot of tech into it.

Six of the top 50 shortlisted teams have suggested ways to solve the challenges related to agriculture.

These are youngsters are working on automation that can significantly help farmers increase yield, make the most of their resources and lessen the use of harmful chemicals.

Let’s look at three teams that are working on crop protection techniques for farmers.

Team Agriwheel

Durga, Dhanush and Lakshmi from Andhra Pradesh built want to help farmers with an automated irrigation system, a crop disease detection system as well as identifying the best crops to grow on their land.

Durga, Dhanush and Lakshmi from Andhra Pradesh

Most farmers in developing and under-developed nations still use conventional agricultural practices.

The trio spoke to over 100 farmers across India to understand their requirements and applied design thinking concepts to come up with a solution.

The proposed prototype strictly based on AI and the process of design thinking is already deployed in farming sites going through extensive testing phase. The model will be utilizing advanced machine learning concepts in disease prediction, crop recommendation techniques with focus on efficiency.

Voice based recommendations is also a unique feature in this model which helps farmers who are not familiar with smart devices.

Team Tech Phantoms

Shiva Kiran, Nithish Kumar and Vivekananda from Telangana are designing an automatic weed digger system that will enable farmers to reduce dependence on chemical weedicides. Use of robotic technology to identify and get rid of weeds from farmlands ultimately maximizes the production and add to their profits.

Shiva Kiran, Nithish Kumar and Vivekananda from Telangana

The teams is using their knowledge of hardware and programming to help farmers. As part of their idea for Solve for Tomorrow, they are creating a portable device which can be produced in many variants. Farmers will be provided training on how to use the device effectively and the team plans to provide one year of on-site services free.

Team Pack of Wolves

Malayaj, Diksha and Nyaasha from Odisha call themselves a pack of wolves. In their words, they hunt together and chill together.

Nyaasha, Malayaj, Diksha and from Odisha

The team wants to solve a very old problem that farmers have been facing – loss of crop because of birds, reptiles and other animals. These rodents damage at least 20-30% of food grains and horticultural crops, affecting farmer economically.

Their idea is inspired by the traditional Scare Crow. They are designing a scarecrow that uses sound frequencies to deter animals, birds and insects from infesting crops.

Samsung India today announced top 50 teams in its Gen-Z education and innovation competition ‘Solve for Tomorrow’. The youth competition, which is running for the first time in India, has seen teams from across the country respond and submit ideas to help tackle problems that India faces in the areas of education, environment, healthcare and agriculture.

In the end of the competition, three national winners stand a chance to get mega support of up to INR 1 crore and mentoring support for six months to take their ideas to the next level under the expert guidance of IIT Delhi.

Entrants who have applied to the competition have taken inspiration for their innovations from all areas of society, including events from the past year, with ideas looking to tackle waste management, electricity and water wastage, plastic waste in the oceans, speech disorders, farm rodents as well as pandemic prediction and creating an affordable ECG device. Many of the solutions that the teams suggested will use new-age technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

Among the top 50 teams, 62% want to solve problems of healthcare, 22% want to tackle challenges around environment, 10% are focused on problems around agriculture while 6% want to solve issues around education.

Solve for Tomorrow got over 18,000 registrations from youth across cities, towns and villages who are eager to turn their ideas into action. Ideas have come in from across the country, including small towns, showcasing the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Bharat.

The chosen 50 teams, with youth aged between 16-22, are now through to the next phase of ‘Solve for Tomorrow’, where they will be further developing their ideas. With the support and expertise of Samsung’s knowledge partner Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi, the 50 teams will be mentored to help enhance their ideas.

In this phase, they will get training on the design thinking concept through online courses as well as at a bootcamp at IIT Delhi. Each of the 50 teams will also be assigned a campus buddy from IIT Delhi during the three-day bootcamp.

Over two days at IIT Delhi, seasoned experts will guide the teams on how to build their first prototype and effectively pitch their ideas in front of an expert Samsung jury on Day 3. The jury will select the top 10 teams for the final pitch event in November 2022.

“At Samsung, we empower and support the next generation to achieve their full potential and pioneer positive social changes. The Solve for Tomorrow program supports the journey of future young innovators by offering them guidance, support and a vision for creating a better tomorrow. We are excited about the 18,000 plus registrations we have received. The top 50 teams we have selected will move to the next phase of the competition and we are keen to see how their ideas shape up going forward, contributing to Powering Digital India,” said Mr. Partha Ghosh, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, Samsung India.

Along with the bootcamp, the top 50 teams will also be given a certificate of participation and vouchers worth INR 100,000 for online courses in design thinking, STEM, innovation, leadership, among others.

“Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow initiative will help strengthen the innovation ecosystem of India. Such platforms are important for creating innovators in the country. It is amazing to see young minds come up with ideas that solve the problems in different parts of the country. We are optimistic that Solve for Tomorrow will empower Indian youth to create a sustainable future,” said Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi.

Samsung India announced the launch of the inaugural edition of Solve for Tomorrow in June, aiming to provide a stage for India’s brightest young minds to come up with innovative ideas that can transform the lives of people and communities around them.

The top 10 teams will get the opportunity to visit Samsung India offices and its R&D centers where they will interact with young Samsung employees and researchers. They will also experience the Samsung product ecosystem at the iconic Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru.