Government is increasing the use of AI tools, emphasis on improving the yield and income of farmers in 13 states.

AI Tools Crop Productivity: The Indian government is turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve the challenges of the agriculture sector and improve the livelihood of farmers. Its main objective is to increase crop production and make farming sustainable. Several AI-based trials have been conducted in collaboration with ‘Development Innovation Lab-India’. These devices are helping farmers in everything from weather information to government schemes.

Use of AI for monsoon forecasting

According to Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur, the government has conducted an AI-based trial in collaboration with Development Innovation Lab-India. Under this, forecast of arrival time of local monsoon in some areas of 13 states was prepared for Kharif 2025.

The test used an open-source blended model that included Neural-GCM, ECMWF’s AI Forecasting System, and 125 years of rainfall data from the Indian Meteorological Department. These forecasts help farmers decide the right date of sowing. This important information was delivered to more than 3 crore 88 lakh farmers through SMS in five languages ​​through M-Kisan portal. The survey found that about 31 to 52 percent of farmers changed their sowing plans based on these forecasts.

Help is being provided through ‘Kisan E-Mitra’ chatbot

A voice-based AI chatbot named ‘Kisan e-Mitra’ has also been developed to solve the problems of farmers and provide them information. This chatbot helps farmers answer their queries related to PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, PM Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Credit.

The system supports 11 languages ​​and is constantly evolving to support other government programs as well. The minister said that this chatbot currently answers the queries of more than 8,000 farmers daily and has solved more than 93 lakh queries so far.

AI in pest monitoring and crop mapping

The government is also using AI and machine learning in the National Pest Surveillance System. This system detects pests in the fields, so that timely prevention can be done and there is minimal damage to the crop. More than 10,000 agricultural extension workers are using this AI tool. Farmers send a photo of a pest and this system helps in identifying the pest and suggesting immediate solutions.

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The system supports farmers on 66 crops and over 432 types of pests. Apart from this, AI-based analytics are also being used for satellite-based crop mapping to monitor crop-season matching of sown crops. All these efforts are making agriculture more precise and sustainable.