AI eyed to stem red onion rot

The government fit warehouses plans to with Al-based tools to try and keep onions from rotting in storage. Wastage of the kitchen staple is estimated at 11,000 crore annually around one-fourth of rabi onions, or onions sown during winters, rot in conventional storage facilities, two officials said.

Warehouses fitted with artificial intelligence (AI) tools may bring down wastage by 5%, one of them said. The plan is to install AI sensors that will generate real-time data on stored onions.

The pilot project is expected to begin in March.

"The data will be collected through IoT (internet of things). Farmers will get specific data like dryness and percentage of rot with the help of Al-based sensors," the second official said. "Farmers will even come to know which onion in a batch of 100 is getting rot."