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IndiAgri Bureau
New Delhi: The Government of India has expanded the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across agriculture, with AI-powered weather advisories now reaching over 5.28 crore farmers and digital platforms supporting services ranging from pest surveillance to crop advisories and access to government schemes. However, the Centre has not yet undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the impact of these AI-based interventions on the farm sector.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur said the Ministry has initiated several AI-based projects for farmer advisories, pest management, crop identification, crop insurance, delivery of scheme benefits and governance analytics. The Government is also supporting states under the Digital Agriculture Mission to adopt technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotics.
Among the flagship initiatives, the National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS) uses AI and Machine Learning to detect pest infestations, enabling timely intervention to reduce crop losses. The system is currently being used by more than 10,000 extension workers and supports 73 crops and 436 pests.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is providing AI-based monsoon and weather advisories to help farmers plan agricultural operations based on location-specific forecasts. According to the Ministry, these advisories have so far reached around 5.28 crore farmers.
The Ministry also highlighted BharatVistaar (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), an AI-powered Digital Public Infrastructure platform that provides real-time, location-specific advisories, weather forecasts, mandi prices, pest and disease identification, soil health recommendations and information on 18 Central Government schemes. The platform has served over 3 lakh farmers and handled more than 72 lakh farmer queries through its web portal, mobile application, AI chatbot and telephone service.
Despite the growing adoption of AI in agriculture, the Minister informed the House that no specific assessment has been undertaken to comprehensively evaluate the impact of AI-based technologies in the sector.
The Government allocated ₹502.40 crore for digital agriculture initiatives, including AI-based projects, in 2026-27, of which ₹364.62 crore has been utilised so far. It has also been providing technical assistance, financial support and capacity-building to states and Union Territories to improve farmers' access to AI-enabled technologies, including among small and marginal farmers.
