The Indian Government has employed the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the agriculture sector to improve crop productivity, promote sustainability and strengthen farmer livelihoods. Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur detailed these initiatives in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on December 9, 2025.
AI Chatbot Strengthens Farmer Outreach
A key initiative is ‘Kisan e-Mitra’, an AI-enabled voice-based chatbot designed to assist farmers with queries related to the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Credit Card, among other schemes. Available in 11 regional languages, the system currently handles more than 8,000 queries daily and has responded to over 93 lakh farmer questions so far.
Pest Surveillance System Enhances Crop Protection
The Government has also operationalised the National Pest Surveillance System, which leverages AI and Machine Learning to detect pest infestations early and reduce crop losses linked to climate change. More than 10,000 extension workers are using the tool, which currently supports 66 crops and over 432 pests. Farmers can upload images of pests for real-time advisories, while AI-driven analytics aid satellite-based crop mapping and crop-weather monitoring.
"AI-based analytics using field photographs for satellite-based crop mapping is being used in Crop-weather matching monitoring of crops sown," the Minister said.
AI-Based Forecasting Supports Sowing Decisions
In addition, an AI-based monsoon onset forecasting pilot was undertaken in partnership with the Development Innovation Lab–India for the Kharif 2025 season across parts of 13 states. Using an open-source blended model integrating NeuralGCM, ECMWF’s (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System and 125 years of IMD rainfall data, the system provided probabilistic local monsoon onset predictions—critical for determining sowing dates.
Farmer Response Indicates Significant Impact
The forecasts were disseminated to 3.88 crore (3,88,45,214) farmers through SMS on the M-Kisan portal in five regional languages—Hindi, Odia, Marathi, Bangla, and Punjabi—in 13 states. Feedback from surveys conducted via Kisan Call Centres in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar indicated that 31–52 per cent of farmers modified their planting decisions based primarily on these alerts, adjusting sowing dates, land preparation, and crop or input choices.
