IIT Kharagpur Offers 12-week Free Online Course on Machine Learning

IIT Kharagpur is currently offering a 12-week free online course called “Machine Learning For Soil And Crop Management”

IIT Kharagpur has announced a free online machine learning course for students on the SWAYAM NPTEL platform. The course, called “Machine Learning For Soil And Crop Management”, aims at providing participants  an understanding of the various applications of machine learning and deep learning methods for better soil and crop management. Although the course is free for everyone, it is specially aimed at undergraduate students. Certificates with logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur can be obtained upon completion of the course by paying Rs 1000, and clearing an examination to be held on 30 April 2023 and completing all the assignments. 

The course will be conducted by professor Somsubhra Chakraborty who has been serving as an assistant professor of soil science at the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur from the year 2016. The professor has obtained his undergraduate and MSc degrees from BCKV and PAU in India and PhD degree in agronomy with soil science emphasis from Louisiana State University, USA. 

What the IIT Kharagpur Free Online Course on Machine Learning Will Cover?

The course aims at helping students apply their knowledge of machine learning, deep learning, digital soil mapping, image processing, and portable sensors for developing an integrated and advanced soil and crop management system, says the NPTEL website. Some of the topics that will be covered as part of the course are as follows:

• General overview of machine learning and deep learning applications in agriculture.
• Basics of multivariate data analytics.
• Principal component analysis and regression applications in agriculture.
• Applications of classification and clustering methods in agriculture.
• Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy: Basics and applications for crop and soil.
• Use of machine learning of portable proximal soil and crop sensors.
• Machine learning and deep learning for soil and crop image processing.
• UAV and machine learning applications in agriculture.
• Hyperspectral remote sensing and machine learning applications in agriculture.
• Digital soil mapping: General overview, and continuous and categorical variables.

Who Can Apply for IIT Kharagpur Free Online Course on Machine Learning?

While the course is open for anyone interested, it would be most suitable for undergraduate students pursuing their degrees in the following streams:

• Agricultural engineering.
• Agriculture.
• Environmental science.
• Agricultural and food engineering.

Those who wish to take the course are advised to go through the official website for further information.