Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Photo courtesy: PTI
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will launch “Bharat-Vistaar”, a new digital companion for farmers across the country, from Jaipur on Tuesday, which was announced in the Budget 2026-27. This AI-based platform will provide information to farmers about weather, rates in mandis (agriculture market yards), pests and diseases, soil health, crop advisories and government schemes through phone calls, chatbots and apps.
The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that in the first phase, this facility will be launched in Hindi and English and will reach lakhs of farmers in many states including Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat. At the launch event, the government has laid out the plan to ensure that farmers across the country are connected virtually through the network of KVKs, agricultural universities and other agricultural institutions.
On the occasion, Chouhan will also launch the “AI for Agriculture Roadmap”, the ministry said, adding that the Bharat-Vistaar app will also be released.
ICAR Practice Package
Bharat-Vistaar is the Centre’s farmer-centric, AI-powered digital public infrastructure that will connect various government and scientific sources to deliver reliable information to farmers. It incorporates the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)’s package of practices, crop management and soil health card-based soil advisories to provide scientific and field-specific advice to the farmer. The ministry said this makes the platform not only informative, but a kind of “digital agriculture advisor”, which will help in making better crop and agriculture decisions.
Within the next three months, it will be available in Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Kannada languages, the ministry said, adding that in those respective states, state government agriculture schemes will also be available on the app. There is also a target to make it available in a total of 11 languages including English and Hindi in the next six months.
Commenting on the use of AI in agriculture, PS Gehlot, Managing Director, Indian Potash Limited (IPL), said that Indian agriculture is on the cusp of a major transformation and the level of mechanization is still maturing, there is a huge window for technology adoption in various aspects of farming. “Evidence shows that data-driven farming can significantly improve yields and in this context, the ongoing AI summit can provide a huge opportunity to farmers on a large scale,” he said.
Published on February 16, 2026
