Centre to invest Rs 6,000 crore in smart farming with AI, drones, and data to boost crop yields

It will cover 15,000 acres of land in five years from 2024-25 to 2028-29 and is expected to benefit about 60,000 farmers, sources said. At present, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), launched during Covid-19, has provisions for financing infrastructure projects for smart and precision agriculture.

Under AIF, individual farmers as well as farmers’ communities such as Farmer Producer Organization, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies and SHGs are eligible for loans with interest subvention of 3% for using technological solutions in farm practices. These practices include farm/ harvest automation; purchase of drones, putting up specialised sensors on field; use of blockchain and AI in agriculture; remote sensing and Internet of Things (IoT).

Apart from offering financial support, the Centre is also considering collaborating with the Netherlands and Israel, where tech-based modern farming solutions are being used, through Centres of Excellences (CoEs), the sources said. The number of CoEs is likely to be 100 in the next five years. Under Indo-Israel Agriculture Project, 32 CoEs have already been set up across 14 states.

The Centre has also set up 22 Precision Farming Development Centres (PFDCs) across the country to test new technologies and modify them according to local needs.

According to the Ministry, these 22 PFDCs are located across State/Central Agricultural Universities, ICAR Institutes and IITs in TN, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Telangana, West Bengal, Ladakh, UP, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttrakhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur and Assam. Besides, funds are released to states/UTs for projects involving use of AI and machine learning, under schemes like the National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture.