The government has employed Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to address various challenges India’s agricultural sector faces and support Indian farmers. ‘Kisan e-Mitra’ an AI-powered chatbot will assist farmers with queries about the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. This will support multiple languages and is evolving to assist with other government programs. Similarly, AI will support the National Pest Surveillance System in tackling the loss of produce due to climate change. This system will utilise AI and machine learning to detect crop issues, enabling timely intervention for healthier crops. The government will also ensure support of AI-based analytics using field photographs for crop health assessment and crop health monitoring using Satellite, weather and soil moisture datasets for rice and wheat crops, said Ram Nath Thakur, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The government has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) since 2015-16. PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at the farm level through micro irrigation namely Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems. Micro irrigation helps in water saving as well as reduced fertilizer usage through fertigation, labour expenses, other input costs and overall income enhancement of farmers. The government provides financial assistance of up to 55 per cent for small and marginal farmers and up to 45 per cent for other farmers to install Drip and Sprinkler systems under the PDMC. Additionally, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has also developed an IoT-based irrigation system and tested it in the field for selected crops.
