The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has initiated several AI-related projects. These are being used for farmer advisories, pest control, crop identification, insurance, delivery of scheme benefits, and governance analytics. Under the Digital Agriculture Mission, the Government also supports the States for projects involving modern digital technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Block chain Technology, the Internet of Things, Robotics, etc. Some key AI initiatives of the government are as follows:

1. National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS) – This system tackles the loss of produce due to climate change, utilizes AI and Machine Learning to detect pest infestation in crop issues, enabling timely intervention for healthier crops. This tool, currently used by over 10,000 extension workers, allows farmers to capture images of pests to help them mitigate pest attacks and reduce crop losses. At present, it supports 73 crops over 436 pests.
2. AI-based Monsoon and Weather Advisory: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) provides AI-based monsoon and weather advisories to support informed agricultural decision-making. The advisories enable farmers to plan agricultural operations based on timely and location-specific weather forecasts. As on date, the initiative has reached approximately 5.28 crore farmers.
3. BharatVistaar (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources) is a multilingual Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Agriculture. The platform provides farmers with AI-enabled, real-time and location-specific agricultural advisories and access to Government schemes and agricultural support services.

As on date, the platform has served over 3 lakh farmers and addressed more than 72 lakh farmer queries. It provides information on 18 Central Government schemes, crop and livestock advisories, weather forecasts, mandi prices, pest and disease identification, soil health-based recommendations and grievance redressal.

The platform is available through a web portal, mobile application, AI chatbot and dedicated telephone line. At present, BharatVistaar Telephone service is available in 2 languages, i.e. Hindi and English; however, the chatbot, web portal, and mobile application are available in 10 languages.

 

No specific assessment has been undertaken by the Government to comprehensively evaluate the impact of AI-based technologies. The funds allocated and utilised for digital agriculture initiatives, including AI-based agricultural initiatives, during the last five years are as under:

(In Crores)

Year	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
Funds Allocated	60	450	763.88	758.56	502.40
Funds Utilized	20.84	119.44	356	596.10	364.62

Further, the Government also provides technical assistance and financial support for human resources to the States/UTs for implementing the projects and capacity-building to enhance farmers' access to AI-enabled technologies and digital services, including small and marginal farmers.

This information was given by the Union Minister of state for Agriculture and Farmers welfare, SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

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