Kasaragod: The Central University of Kerala, Periye, hosted the Rural Agri-Tech Hackathon, a 30-hour innovation marathon focused on addressing critical challenges in agriculture and rural development. This unique event was part of the Third Rural India Business Conclave (RIBC), organized by the Kalpa Agri Business Incubator at ICAR-CPCRI in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science, IEDC, and IIC.
The hackathon, which attracted participants nationwide, was officially inaugurated by Prof. Joseph Koyippally, Vice Chancellor (i/c) of the Central University of Kerala. Dr. Thasleema T.M. delivered the welcome address, while Prof. R. Rajesh presided over the inaugural session. Mr. Sharonvas K.S. (District Development Manager, NABARD, Kasaragod), Dr. Ravi Bhat (Principal Scientist, CPCRI), and Prof. Jaysudha J.S. (Head of the Department, Computer Science) delivered the felicitation address. The session concluded with an inspiring quick start by Mr. Hashir C., Founder of Grow AI, and a vote of thanks by Dr. Adithya V.
The hackathon received an overwhelming 120 entries from across the country, with 20 innovative ideas selected to tackle pressing agricultural issues such as coconut maturity detection, harvesting robots, canopy estimation, heritage mapping, and farm-direct solutions. COCO-BOT (Ashin P. Krishna and Gokul Krishnan), a startup from Calicut, emerged as the first-prize winner. We_Eat_Blocks (Partav Poyil, Abel Davis Boby, Adwaith Jayasankar, and B. Anandapadmanaban), Team Rizz (Varun, Vaishak, Christo, Abdul, and Jyothish), and Codexplorer (Sanjay K.P., Yadumithra, Vishal Kodoth, and Muhammed Zain) were the runners-up. The winners received ₹50,000, while the runners-up were awarded ₹10,000 each.