About the Project

Farming Futures is a student-led initiative that applies data-driven decision-making to improve the allocation of agricultural resources for smallholder farmers in drought-prone regions of northern India. Rather than treating agricultural challenges as isolated problems, the project recognises that crop outcomes are influenced by interconnected environmental, infrastructural, and economic factors that vary across individual farms.

To address this, Farming Futures combines primary field data, climate information, and quantitative modelling to identify farmers most vulnerable to crop stress and prioritise interventions accordingly. At the centre of the initiative is the Crop Stress Index (CSI), a composite model that evaluates crop vulnerability using variables including rainfall deviation, temperature variability, irrigation reliability, and crop sensitivity. These insights are then integrated into a resource optimisation framework that supports more targeted allocation of agricultural inputs under limited funding conditions.

By combining evidence-based modelling with practical implementation, Farming Futures seeks to demonstrate how data science can support more efficient agricultural decision-making, improve climate resilience, and maximise the impact of limited development resources.