Fyllo: An AgTech startup harnessing machine learning and IoTs to optimize agricultural practices in India
With the increasing vulnerability of the agricultural sector to climate change and rising demand for domestic food production, many farmers are turning to precision agriculture. As a modern approach to farming, precision agriculture leverages technology such as satellite imagery, AI-powered drones, GPS, and remote sensing applications to ensure that crops and soil receive what they need for optimum health, growth, and productivity. In India, the agriculture sector accounts for about 14% of the GDP. The sector has grappled with the challenges of significant post-harvest losses and unpredictable weather patterns, causing significant loss in productivity, hampering the quality of produce, and disrupting the livelihoods of many smallholder farmers.
Agtech startups such as Fyllo are enabling farmers to maximize their yield and quality through its Internet of Things (IoTs) products that measure the precise requirements of crops on a real-time basis. Founded in 2019, the Bengaluru-based startup offers both hardware and software solutions designed to assist farmers optimize their agricultural practices. Fyllo’s AgTech platform features productive farm data analytics, precise irrigation schedules, disease and pest prediction, and farm-level weather predictions. On the hardware front, Fyllo’s innovative IoT platform provides actionable data insights through its two key products – Nero and Kairo.
Fyllo uses satellite imagery to collect data from soil, climate, and crop canopy. Through a Fyllo device installed in a designated area, farm-level intelligence is obtained. This data is then processed using proprietary analytics algorithms on their cloud server, which allows Fyllo to develop real-time insights on crops. Users can access these insights through Fyllo’s mobile app and dashboards. The startup also collects data from farms regularly to validate their existing models and inform new models. As part of the data collection process, farm activities are analyzed to further determine optimal agricultural practices across crops and geographies. One of the key features of Fyllo is also its weather models, which are machine learning-based and can predict various parameters for microclimate around farms, including air humidity, leaf wetness, and air pressure, among others. Using real-time data and insights from Fyllo’s IoT devices and other sources, their weather models are continuously retrained.
The AgTech startup has already served over 8,000 farmers, helping them increase their income by up to 30%, and has worked on over 20 crops across horticulture, plantation, fibers, and agriculture. With a fresh round of funding in 2024, the startup plans to expand its services into new crops and geographies and focus on the development of more advanced precision agriculture products.
