In recent years, technological advancements have significantly transformed various sectors across the globe, with agriculture at the forefront of this evolution. Among the myriads of technologies that promise to reshape agricultural practices, Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerges as a formidable force in revolutionising farming in India. Known for its diverse agricultural landscape and many challenges ranging from resource scarcity to climate variability, India represents a unique context in which AI can enhance agricultural productivity, efficiency, and sustainability.   

This article delves into AI’s transformative role in Indian agriculture, the innovations, opportunities, challenges, and future possibilities brought by AI in the Indian agriculture sector, along with the insights of industry experts who are poised to make India’s agricultural sector more resilient, sustainable, and productive.  

Opportunities of AI in Indian Agriculture  

Pratik Desai, Founder of KissanAI, while commenting on the significance of Generative AI in the Indian agriculture sector, opined, “While traditional ML and AI techniques are deployed on the ground to improve crop yield, smart irrigation, and soil improvement, delivery of this knowledge on the ground in a way that farmers can understand in their local languages has been made possible due to Generative AI. Generative AI is bridging this knowledge divide between the source of information and farmers with variable literacy and language levels”.  

“Just like the weather, and also due to the change in weather, crop loss has increased in areas due to disease and pests, which was not the case before,” Pratik noted. “Training multimodal vision models with knowledge about these diseases, pests, symptoms and their remedies, and letting farmers have conversations about their situation by taking pictures, can make farmers proactive and prepared”, he added.  

AI-Driven Solutions for Indian Farming Challenges  

Dr. Mamata Pradhan, Research Coordinator, South Asia Office, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), commented on how AI is being deployed for innovation in Indian agriculture. She claimed AI has been supporting innovation by improving and integrating value chains into the global value chain. She added that AI has been employed to enhance specific value chains, such as the Saagu Baagu pilot project of the AI4AI initiative by the World Economic Forum in Telangana. Mamata further said the ultimate frontier is for AI to integrate agriculture value chains to reap the benefits of unexploited market potential.   

India’s smallholder farmers face several challenges. In addition to the effects of climate change and unpredictable weather, they also face pest infestations and declining yields. Many financially constrained people are stuck with high-interest loans from local lenders.  

With up to 40% of crops lost after harvest, problems with transportation, market accessibility, and agricultural waste can exacerbate their problems. Their difficulties are worsened by market changes and their inability to produce work of satisfactory calibre.  

Ranjitha Puskur, Principal Scientist, International Rice Research Institute, Leader, evidence Module, CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform shredded light on the criticality of Precision Farming. “As smallholder farmers who are resource-poor and cannot afford to lose crops due to unpredictable monsoons, increasing intensity and frequency of climatic shocks and stresses like droughts, floods, salinity; higher incidence of pests and diseases, etc. AI that can provide them reliable information and easy-to-use decision support for crop planning and use of appropriate technologies and varieties is important for them,” she opined.    

Initiatives by the Government of India in the agriculture sector  

The government of India supports and facilitates the state governments’ promotion of agriculture throughout the country and infuses modern and smart farming technologies into the agriculture sector. Modern machines, including Kisan drones, are promoted under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization.   

In response to the challenges faced by India’s smallholder farmers, the World Economic Forum’s Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI) initiative is stepping in to support India’s agricultural transformation by driving the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies for agricultural advancements.   

One of the most successful implementations of the AI4AI initiative is the ‘Saagu Baagu’ pilot, developed in partnership with the Telangana state government in its Khammam district, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by Digital Green. The project has substantially improved the chilli value chain for more than 7,000 farmers.  

Few among the other initiatives include:  

• Digital Agriculture Projects under the NeGPA program   
• National Artificial Intelligence Mission (NAIM)  
• AI-powered crop yield forecast model by NITI Aayog and IBM partnership  
• Artificial Intelligence sensors for intelligent agriculture by Microsoft, State governments, and MeitY collaboration.  
• Drones to keep an eye on soil and crop health by the Information Technology Research Academy (ITRA), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) collaboration.  

How important is AI inclusiveness in the agricultural sector?   

Pratik Desai emphasised the importance of educating farmers. “There is a lot of conversation and research happening around the impact of climate change on agriculture; however, it is significantly important to build a unified repository of knowledge and practices for climate-resilient agriculture and educate the farmers”, he added.  

According to Ranjitha Puskur, another essential factor that needs to be considered is connecting women and men, smallholder farmers, and FPOs to buyers so that others do not appropriate the margins. “The direct links with markets allow them to not lose their perishable produce and get decent prices, avoiding distress sales or being the price takers at their farm gate,” she added.    

Ranjitha also highlighted the vitality of financial inclusion and the need to bridge the gender digital divide in the sector.   

“However, it is important to appreciate that not all smallholder farmers have equal access to AI or AI-enabled services and technologies. There is a significant gender digital divide. It is critical to bridge this gap to ensure that the ones who need AI the most are not left behind and the gaps are not exacerbated,” she said.  

In conclusion, AI is transforming Indian agriculture, enhancing productivity and sustainability. However, ensuring AI inclusiveness and equal access is crucial for a resilient and productive agricultural sector. 

• Image: Unsplash