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Govt pushes advanced tech to modernise agriculture
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Wednesday, 19 August, 2026, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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Government is stepping up efforts to modernise Indian agriculture through advanced technologies aimed at boosting productivity, improving resource-use efficiency, reducing cultivation costs and labour drudgery, and strengthening climate resilience, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
Modern technologies, including improved farm machinery, precision agriculture, drones, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, sensors, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite-based applications, automation and digital technologies, are increasingly being integrated into agricultural operations.
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is promoting farm mechanisation through the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM), implemented as a component of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). Under the initiative, financial assistance is provided for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment, establishment of Custom Hiring Centres, High-Tech Hubs and Farm Machinery Banks, as well as demonstrations, training, testing and capacity building.
The initiatives are aimed at enabling small and marginal farmers to access modern farm machinery at affordable rates. The government is also promoting agricultural drone technology through financial assistance for procurement and demonstrations under SMAM. Drones are being used for pesticide and nutrient application and for generating digital agricultural data, helping improve operational efficiency and reduce input costs.
To advance precision agriculture and digital farming, the Department is implementing the Digital Agriculture Mission, which focuses on digital public infrastructure, technology-based farmer-centric services and data-driven decision-support systems.
The Farmer Registry under AgriStack is being developed as a foundational database for transparent, efficient and targeted delivery of agricultural services and benefits. It is intended to facilitate integration with farmer-centric schemes and digital platforms, including PM-KISAN, the Jan Samarth platform for Kisan Credit Card loans and MSP-based crop procurement systems. As of August 6, 2026, more than 10.33 crore farmer IDs had been generated.
The Digital Crop Survey is also providing plot-level visibility of crops through digitally captured crop details, photographs and geo-tags. This is expected to support evidence-based production estimation, procurement, input supply and logistics planning. During Kharif 2025, the survey covered more than 28.5 crore plots across 604 districts.
Meanwhile, BharatVistaar, a multilingual AI-powered Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture, is providing farmers with real-time, location-specific agricultural advisories and access to government schemes and support services. The platform has so far served more than 5.9 lakh farmers and addressed over 93 lakh farmer queries.
Agricultural technology development is also being supported through research and innovation by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agricultural Universities and other research organisations. These institutions are developing and refining crop- and location-specific machinery suited to different agro-climatic conditions and farm sizes.
The government is also promoting mechanised harvesting in horticulture through crop-specific technologies designed to address variations in crop characteristics, plant architecture and maturity, while reducing mechanical damage and maintaining produce quality. Under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), financial assistance is provided to States and Union Territories for improved horticultural tools, implements and machinery.
The increasing convergence of agriculture with mechanical, electrical, electronics, automation, instrumentation, computer and data sciences is further driving the development of intelligent farm machinery, autonomous equipment, precision farming systems, protected cultivation technologies and smart farm management solutions.
The government, Thakur said, continues to promote innovation, research, technology development, skill development, entrepreneurship and adoption of modern agricultural technologies to enhance productivity, improve resource-use efficiency, strengthen sustainability and make Indian agriculture more resilient and competitive.
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