Group update

Agriculture remains one of India’s most defining strengths, powering livelihoods for millions and anchoring rural communities. Today, the sector stands at an important turning point. Intensifying climate variability, rising input costs, soil degradation, and unpredictable markets are reshaping the realities of Indian farming. In this environment, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to be a foundational enabler of India’s next agricultural transformation.

To explore this shift, Prosus, in partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, convened the second chapter of its AI for All: Catalysing Jobs, Growth, and Opportunity roundtable series - Amrit Krishi: AI for Agriculture - in New Delhi. The dialogue brought together leading policymakers, researchers, agritech entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and industry leaders to examine how AI can strengthen productivity, sustainability, and opportunity across India’s agricultural value chain.

The discussions reflected a shared understanding that India’s agricultural model must evolve. With nearly half the country’s workforce engaged in farming, the traditional approach of input intensification has reached its limits. Soil health deterioration, excessive dependency on subsidised fertilisers, groundwater depletion, and climate stresses demand a shift toward smarter, data-driven methods. As participants noted, AI’s role in agriculture is not aspirational — it is already becoming essential, especially as India seeks to boost rural incomes while safeguarding natural resources.

The roundtable co-chaired by Mr. Rentala Chandrashekhar and Dr. Ashok Gulati brought together leaders including Shri V. Balasubramanian (NABARD), J. Satyanarayana (WEF C4IR India), Prakash Kumar (Wadhwani Center), agritech innovators such as Shailendra (Fasal), industry voices like Sanjay Sacheti (Olam India), and Prosus India leadership represented by Sehraj Singh. Their perspectives collectively underscored that the sector is at an inflection point where technology and agriculture must converge with urgency.

Mr. Chandrashekhar and Dr. Gulati emphasised that India’s next agricultural revolution must prioritise precision over intensity. Over-application of fertilisers, particularly urea, has imposed economic and environmental costs, while only partially benefiting crops. India must now transition towards systems that optimise inputs rather than maximise them. Dr. Gulati noted this shift as he observed, “The next phase of India’s agricultural revolution must be driven by precision agriculture, and that is where AI can play a catalytic role.”

The conversations showcased strong evidence of AI’s potential already taking root in the field. One compelling example came from Fasal’s deployments across 150,000 acres, where AI-enabled irrigation and crop advisories have delivered significant improvements: more than 83 billion litres of water saved, 150,000 kilograms of pesticide use eliminated, and 56,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions reduced. These interventions demonstrate how data can reshape farm-level decisions at scale.

Fasal Founder Shailendra Tiwari added, “This country needs to irrigate when the crop needs - not when farmers feel it needs water. AI helps bridge that gap.”

Participants underscored that while productivity gains are critical, they will not automatically translate into higher farmer incomes unless India addresses structural market gaps. Today, the greatest value loss for farmers occurs not on the field but in the marketplace - a challenge requiring solutions spanning policy, institution-building, digital infrastructure, innovative market models, and AI. Participants stressed the need to strengthen price discovery, build fairer procurement systems, and accelerate market linkages so farmers can capture a larger share of the consumer rupee.

A major theme from the session was the emergence of a new talent pipeline reshaping Indian agriculture - from agri-university graduates to village-level entrepreneurs who are becoming the backbone of tech-enabled farming models.

Contrary to widespread fears, participants agreed that India does not face a shortage of agricultural workers; instead, it has an excess, and the transformative opportunity lies in enabling this workforce to transition into more productive rural and semi-urban roles. AI will accelerate this shift, not replace it.

This potential is already visible in successful decentralised rural enterprise models. S4S Technologies, an Aurangabad-based startup founded by ICT Mumbai graduates, has built a solar dehydration model that is transforming rural livelihoods. Initially, their dehydrators cost ₹1.5 lakh, a high cost barrier for most rural entrepreneurs. With financing support, interest rates dropped from 15% (cooperative banks) to 10% (SBI), and further to 6% under the Government of India’s AIF scheme. The model has now taken off successfully as financing improved and S4S created its own procurement and processing network for dehydrated onions, garlic, and turmeric. Today, more than 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs - 95% of them, women - earn between ₹5,000 and ₹12,000 a month, with operations expanding across multiple districts. The lesson is clear: when capital access and market linkage align, rural enterprises and entrepreneurs scale rapidly.

Participants also highlighted that rising labour costs are pushing farmers to mechanise and adopt tech-enabled solutions, which in turn increases productivity and incomes and allows farms to hire additional workers. According to UGC data, India produces hundreds of thousands of agri-graduates annually. These will increasingly move into hybrid roles such as drone operators, soil technicians, climate analysts, and digital advisory providers. The drone services sector alone is projected to create up to 1 crore jobs by 2030, even at 50% penetration - illustrating the scale of emerging rural employment opportunities.

A key takeaway from the session was that scaled agri-tech adoption succeeds not through large salaried field teams but through local rural entrepreneurs who anchor trust: FPOs, progressive farmers, village-level entrepreneurs, and women-led microenterprises. These actors form India’s rapidly expanding “last-mile tech force,” operating drones, managing warehouses, running cold-storage units, or conducting credit-linked farm data collection. Subscription-based AI advisory models are also gaining traction, with retention rates as high as 85%.

To sustain this momentum, the sector must prioritize integrating AI and IT skills across all levels of agricultural education, from farmers to bureaucrats.

The transition ahead is expected to mirror India’s computer revolution: technology will expand markets and create new, higher-value jobs - not eliminate them.

For AI to reach every farmer, India must strengthen digital public infrastructure, including AgriStack, digitised land records, and interoperable data systems. AI-enabled beneficiary identification and subsidy reform could reduce leakages and support more efficient use of public resources.

Participants noted that India’s global credibility in digital public goods - Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker - gives it a unique advantage. Extending this architecture into agriculture represents a generational opportunity not just for India, but for the Global South.

The insights from Amrit Krishi will directly inform the India AI Impact Summit 2026, guiding priorities such as scaling precision agriculture, strengthening market access, developing a modern rural digital workforce, advancing AgriStack, and deepening research collaborations in soil, seed, and climate resilience.

Across the discussions, one message stood out prominently: India is ready for a new agricultural revolution - and AI will be central to it.

Prosus remains committed to strengthening India’s AI ecosystem by advancing policy dialogue, investing in scalable models, and advocating for every stakeholder to benefit from the promise of AI.

Amrit Krishi reaffirmed a powerful truth: AI is not just modernising agriculture - it is unlocking resilience, opportunity, and a more prosperous future for rural India.