Future Farming in India A Playbook for Scaling Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture 2025

Stakeholders have roles in several parts of the AI value chain. The top five actions expected of the three major stakeholders – governments, AI industry/ start-ups and academia – are outlined below. For governments 1. Establish a multistakeholder expert group to guide the development of policies and to structure technology governance. 2. Formulate an AI strategy that can shape the growth of the AI ecosystem through a system of incentives, projects and programmes. 3. Establish a legal and technology environment conducive to promoting the use of AI and governing it to safeguard societal and individual interests. The initiatives recommended in this regard are: a. Introduce AI procurement and financial incentives b. Enable agriculture digital public infrastructure and policies for agriculture data-sharing c. Establish AI sandboxes for validation and co-innovation in partnership with research institutions 4. Implement a portfolio of pilot projects for learning and building trust. 5. Undertake a public awareness campaign to empower farmers and cooperatives and enable them to assert their rights. Establish a consumer forum to receive and address grievances.For start-ups and the AI Industry 1. Collaborate with government through a multistakeholder environment to co-develop AI strategy, policies, the procurement framework and the risk management framework and standards. 2. Develop AI models, products and solutions for domestic and global markets. 3. Collaborate with AI sandboxes for validation and co-innovation of solutions. 4. Strengthen the AI marketplace ecosystem by integrating with access platforms such as ONDC, agriculture data exchanges and Agri-Stack. 5. Offer AI-enabled products and services to farmers, cooperatives and extension systems through the AI marketplace. For academia and research bodies 1. Conduct applied research in association with industry (with a focus on AI ethics, governance, standards and interoperability) and develop case studies for agriculture. 2. Mentor and co-innovate with start-ups, using their domain knowledge. 3. Partner with start-ups for validation of AI solutions from a domain and technology perspective. 4. Develop a workforce ready for the AI age, equipped for innovation and responsible deployment. 5. Design an AI evaluation framework, maturity models and impact-evaluation methods. Stakeholders – government, start-ups and academia – have roles in several parts of the AI value chain. 36 Future Farming in India