AI to power India’s next farm revolution: National Agri-AI push announced, check key details

India’s next major leap in agriculture will be driven by artificial intelligence, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh, said on Sunday, outlining a comprehensive AI-led transformation of the farm sector.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Global Conference on AI in Agriculture and Investor Summit 2026 (AI4Agri 2026) in Mumbai, the Minister described AI as the first scalable solution to long-standing structural constraints in agriculture, including erratic weather, fragmented markets and limited access to timely information.

“What AI offers is not a new diagnosis. It offers, finally, a prescription that can scale,” he said, noting that even a 10 percent productivity gain for the 600 million farmers across the Global South could become the largest poverty-reduction opportunity of the century.

Rs 70,000 Crore Annual Opportunity

Highlighting the economic potential, Dr. Singh said India’s 140 million farm holdings, largely small and marginal, could together unlock an estimated Rs 70,000 crore in annual value. If AI-enabled advisories help each farmer save even Rs 5,000 annually through improved input use, pest forecasting and better market linkages, the cumulative impact would be transformative, he noted.

He cited Maharashtra’s Rs 500-crore MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025–29 as an example of proactive state-level reform, adding that the Centre would align and amplify such initiatives nationally.

Backed by Rs 10,372-Crore India AI Mission

Positioning agriculture at the centre of the broader India AI Mission, Dr. Singh linked the farm-tech push to the Rs 10,372-crore national programme aimed at building sovereign compute infrastructure, datasets and startup ecosystems.

Under this framework, BharatGen — India’s government-owned large language model ecosystem — has launched “Agri Param”, a domain-specific AI model operating in 22 Indian languages. The tool enables farmers to access advisory services in their native language, enhancing inclusion and accessibility.

“This is AI that speaks to a farmer in Marathi, Bhojpuri or Kannada,” the Minister said.

National Agri-AI Research Network Proposed

Dr. Singh announced plans to establish a National Agri-AI Research Network in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), state governments, ICAR, ICRISAT, IITs, IISc and global institutions. The initiative aims to build foundational India-specific datasets for crops, soil and climate.

He also called for the creation of a national Agri Data Commons, evolving existing digital infrastructures such as MahaAgriX into an interoperable framework under an India AI Open Stack.

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation is funding deep-tech and AI research partnerships focused on agricultural applications, he added.

Integrating Climate Science, Drones and Biotechnology

The Minister highlighted the integration of AI with drone and satellite mapping to strengthen Soil Health Cards and the Swamitva Mission through verified land and soil data.

He said AI-driven climate intelligence systems are being linked with Earth Sciences to improve early warning mechanisms, enabling farmers to “plan, not panic.” Biotechnology will also play a key role in developing disease-resistant crops and enabling early asymptomatic detection of plant diseases, while promoting a circular crop economy.

Bharat-VISTAAR in Union Budget 2026–27

The Union Budget 2026–27 has proposed ‘Bharat-VISTAAR’, a multilingual AI platform integrating AgriStack portals and ICAR’s agricultural practices package with AI systems. The initiative aims to deliver customised advisories and reduce farm risk, particularly for small farmers.

The focus will be on small, purpose-built AI models trained on Indian soil types, climate zones and crop varieties, designed to function even in low-connectivity rural areas through mobile devices and farm equipment.

Call to Investors

Describing agri-AI as “the largest untapped productivity market in the world,” Dr. Singh urged investors to support scalable platforms instead of isolated pilot projects.

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“The farmer does not need AI simply for the sake of it. He needs it to be useful. Let that be our compass,” he said, calling for collaborative implementation and positioning India as a co-architect of global agri-AI frameworks.

The Minister stressed that the real measure of success would be how many farmers make better decisions a year from now as a result of commitments made at the summit.