The ITCMAARS community platform, which facilitates knowledge-exchange on agricultural best practices by farmers, will be strengthened using AI-powered digital assistants and agentic workflows. Photo Credit: QAP
Diversified conglomerate ITC Limited seeks to extend the benefits of the latest AI innovations to its large ecosystem of farmer-producer organizations (FPOs), organic farmers and rural communities.
By deploying new generative AI applications and agentic AI capabilities, the group is expanding its ITCMARS phygital ecosystem into a flexible, connected and intelligence-driven agri-stack, it said in a statement.
next generation agriculture
It is an integral part of ITC Chairman Sanjeev Puri’s strategy and commitment to introduce “Next Generation Agriculture” for Indian farmers. As a company that has been working with farmers for over a century, its digital stack for agriculture led by ITCMAARS aims to reach 10 million farmers, enabling rural development and progress.
The AgriTech platform combines the benefits of digital technologies delivered through a superapp designed to provide tailor-made solutions specifically for smallholder farmers, with human participation at the grassroots level, leveraging FPOs as the anchor. It also offers a separate app customized to the needs of the FPOs present in its ecosystem.
FPOs have become smarter
Adding to the benefits of this FPO app, Model now plans to introduce AI solutions to improve the efficiency of FPO operations, helping them scale up. Additionally, the ITCMAARS community platform, which facilitates the exchange of knowledge on agricultural best practices by farmers, will be strengthened using AI-powered digital assistants and agentic workflows, the statement said.
It aims to solve a large percentage of community queries in real-time using AI to complement agri-expert advice. The model also plans to introduce an AI-enabled platform with customized advice and services specifically for organic farming.
Highlight moments of the summit
As global leaders and tech visionaries converge on the India Pavilion for the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, the spotlight has shifted from theoretical risk models and governance to inclusive, demonstrable applications of AI to solve everyday grassroots challenges for “people, planet and progress”. In this context, ITCMAARS and its transformative impact on a large number of farmers stands as a relevant use case, which resonates with India’s AI philosophy of “Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaay” (welfare for all, happiness for all).
“Today, ITC’s next generation agriculture initiative is powered by ITCMARS, a full-range crop-agnostic ‘phygital’ model that aims to democratize access to the latest technologies for smallholder farmers, helping them overcome critical challenges of climate change, crop management and market access,” said S Ganesh Kumar, Divisional Chief Executive, Agribusiness, ITC Ltd.
each farm node
Kumar said the company’s AI strategy in agriculture focuses on orchestrating a multi-stakeholder inclusive ecosystem that aims to increase efficiency at every node of agricultural operations, from crop planning, climate-smart advisory, production, input linkage, procurement and market discovery.
“We are continuously innovating and creating new partnerships to progressively expand the scope of AI applications for various agricultural stakeholders and specific agricultural needs,” he said.
mass effect
Launched in 2022, the ITCMAARS model has evolved into a full-stack Farming as a Service (FaaS) solution that serves as a robust marketplace enabled by advanced digital and AI technologies. This ecosystem has already benefited over 22 lakh farmers and over 2,100 FPOs across 11 states. According to pilot estimates, the integrated initiative has resulted in a 10-15 percent reduction in fertilizer use and an improvement in crop yields by 15-20 percent, leading to an increase in total farm income by about 25 percent.
Published on February 18, 2026
