Agriculture is the backbone of India, vital for food security, livelihoods and the overall economy with employment opportunities over 42 per cent of the country’s workforce and contributes 17–18 per cent to GDP. While the sector remains crucial for Indian households, erratic monsoons and climate disruptions continue to threaten yields. Some of the government’s initiatives such as improved irrigation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana have assisted farmers to expand output, but the climate resilience of the sector remains fragile.

Progress, prosperity and economic vibrancy in this era are driven by new ways of doing things. Technological advancements that disrupt legacy systems in the agriculture sector are expanding their footprints with capabilities such as weather forecasting, precision farming, pest surveillance, and market intelligence.

India’s emergence as the world’s third-most competitive nation in AI underscores its growing ability to deploy advanced technologies at scale. But agriculture presents a uniquely Indian challenge: over 86 per cent of farmers are small and marginal, often with low digital literacy.

Backbone of agricultural transformation

Given the scale and complexity of Indian agriculture, setting the right agenda in motion is a significant step forward. What was once seen as innovation often amounted to cutting corners or skipping processes. The government’s Digital Agriculture Mission, with an outlay of ₹2,817 crore, marks a decisive shift. At its core is AgriStack, the digital public infrastructure designed to serve as the backbone of agricultural transformation. It integrates three key registries: farmer identity, geo-referenced land records, and crop data creating a single, reliable source of truth for India’s farm economy.

By 2026–27, the government aims to generate digital identities for 11 crore farmers, enabling seamless delivery of services, subsidies, and advisory support. Already, over 4.8 crore Farmer IDs have been created. At the same time, digital crop surveys are providing plot-level insights into sowing patterns, improving planning for procurement, logistics and input distribution. In many ways, this mirrors India’s success with digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and UPI.

AI for the last mile If AgriStack provides the rails, AI is the engine that drives value. The Union Budget’s proposal for Bharat-VISTAAR, a multilingual AI platform; integrates AgriStack data with scientific research from institutions like ICAR to deliver personalised, real-time advisory to farmers. Initiatives like BharatGen’s Agri Param model, operating in 22 Indian languages, are making AI accessible to farmers in their native language, an important step in overcoming linguistic barriers.

Reshaping market engagement

The Kisan e-Mitra chatbot, which has already handled over 93 lakh queries, demonstrates how AI can bridge information gaps at scale. National pest surveillance platforms, powered by real-time data, are enabling early warnings and targeted interventions. With coverage spanning 66 crops and over 432 pest species, these systems help reduce crop losses and improve yields. Also, schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) are increasingly integrating technology for faster and more accurate claim settlements to provide safety for farmers. With over ₹1.9 lakh crore disbursed in claims since 2016, the scale is immense, and here too AI can improve transparency and trust. By combining AI insights and satellite data into crop insurance systems can improve claim validation, and enhance transparency.

Technology-driven yield estimation systems such as YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System based on Technology) address long-standing challenges in farm insurance. AI is also reshaping market engagement by improving price discovery, logistics, and market access for nearly 1.8 million farmers across multiple states. AI, IoT and blockchain are expected to address systemic barriers such as delayed payments, lack of skills and limited access to formal systems. Voice-first interfaces, in particular, could be transformative, allowing farmers to interact with technology without needing literacy or technical expertise. However, data quality, privacy concerns and the Bharat India digital divide could limit the effectiveness of these systems if not addressed carefully. Equally important is the need for trust, as farmers must see tangible benefits before fully embracing digital tools.

A McKinsey report points out that between 2013 and 2020, the agtech landscape in India grew from less than 50 start-ups to more than 1,000, fuelled by increased farmer awareness, rising internet penetration in rural India, and the need for greater efficiency in the agriculture sector. Agtech in India continues to ramp up from core companies in the value chain using digital technologies like super apps to innovations by startups, or “agrifintechs,” and large technology companies.

Striking the balance between sustainable practices and economic pressures will become important going ahead, and the combination of analytical AI and gen AI will play a key role in shaping the future of the sector.

The author is Founder & CEO at MapMyCrop

Published on April 18, 2026