Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Jul 31: A US computer science professor has been awarded more than USD 5.28 lakh in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a joint research project with India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) aimed at developing advanced technologies for precision soybean breeding.
US Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced that Dr Xiaolei Huang, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Memphis, has been awarded a grant of USD 528,137 for the project titled "Collaborative Research: VINES: Track 1: NSF-MeitY: SoyWatch: Smart Sensing Network for Precision Soybean Breeding."
According to the award details, the three-year project will commence on October 1 and continue until September 30, 2029. It is jointly funded under the NSF-MeitY collaborative research programme.
Announcing the grant, Cohen said the project would contribute to improving global food security while strengthening scientific cooperation between the United States and India.
"I congratulate Professor Huang for being awarded this prestigious National Science Foundation funding. His research efforts will improve soybean yields and productivity, which will help feed the ever-growing population of our planet. It is especially encouraging that this work is being done in collaboration with the government of India," the Congressman said.
According to the NSF, the project seeks to develop a smart farming system capable of monitoring and analysing soybean growth using advanced sensors, wireless communication technologies and artificial intelligence.
The research aims to address challenges faced by soybean farmers in both countries, including pest infestations, crop diseases and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.
Researchers plan to develop a smart sensor network integrated with NextG-enabled wireless communication and AI-powered analytical tools to monitor crops and soil conditions in real time.
The NSF said the system is intended to help soybean breeders better understand crop performance and make more informed decisions during the breeding process.
The project brings together researchers from the University of Memphis, the University of Missouri, Kennesaw State University, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's National Soybean Research Institute.
The research will focus on three key areas: developing sensor arrays to monitor soil nutrients, moisture and environmental conditions; designing energy-efficient wireless communication systems using drone-assisted data collection and passive sensing technologies; and creating multimodal large language models that combine sensor data, drone imagery and environmental information for crop phenotyping, pest management and yield forecasting.
According to the NSF, these technologies will eventually be integrated into a single toolkit combining sensing, wireless communications and artificial intelligence to provide data-driven insights for farmers and researchers.
The agency said the project is also expected to strengthen interdisciplinary research, workforce development and scientific collaboration between the US and India by training students in agriculture, engineering and artificial intelligence while supporting the development of high-yielding and pest-resistant soybean varieties.
Scientific cooperation between India and the United States has expanded steadily over the past two decades in sectors including agriculture, clean energy, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, with collaborative research becoming an important pillar of the bilateral strategic partnership.