Google Cloud and Uttar Pradesh (UP) have partnered to launch the Open Network for Agriculture.
Economy Business
In January 2025, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google Cloud (India) to launch the UP Open Network for Agriculture (UPONA), powered by Gemini and enabled by Beacon.
- This open and decentralized network will provide millions of farmers with easy access to services like advice, credit, machinery, and market links to sell their produce.
- This initiative is India’s first state-level project using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform agriculture.
- The MoU was signed by Manoj Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary of UP, and Anil Bhansali, Vice President (VP) of Google Cloud (India).
Main Point :- (i) The network is created as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) using Google Cloud’s DPI-in-a-box and the Beckn Protocol, an open standard that makes it easy to find and access products and services.
(ii) This is an important step toward doubling farmers' income in UP. It provides quick and accurate information on weather and market prices, using data from weather stations in nearly every tehsil.
(iii) Farmers can access the network using voice commands in their preferred language. Currently, it supports Hindi, Bangla, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, and Punjabi, with plans to add more languages in the future.
About Uttar Pradesh
Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath
Governor: Anandiben Patel
____________________________
