Why in news? A new initiative plans to combine data from satellite images and artificial intelligence (AI) to keep track of cotton certification in India.

Highlights:

• Collaborating agencies – European Space Agency , Global Organic Textile Standard and AI company Marple
• What is proposed – Classify cotton fields in India in line with cultivation standards
• How – train AI models to ‘read’ ESA satellite data to identify and classify cotton fields in India.
• Why – help GOTS to generate accurate estimates of organic cotton yields in specific regions by incorporating standardised yield metrics
• Where was it first implemented – Uzbekistan in 2021 with 98% accuracy
• What is the primary objective of the project?
  • Bolster the integrity of organic cotton by developing advanced risk assessment techniques
  • prevent fraud throughout the supply chain.
  • Bring a greater number of small-scale farmers into the certified organic sector and supply chains
  • Create new economic opportunities for them and their communities