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

–Expert consultations through in-depth interviews, to understand the primary challenges faced by smallholder farmers –Contextual analysis to align AI solutions with the specific needs of Indian agriculture, factoring in constraints such as small landholdings, fragmented supply chains and climate variability This multistakeholder approach provided a bottom-up perspective, integrating expert insights with the realities on the ground, resulting in a practical and achievable framework for building an AI-driven agricultural ecosystem.Framework: principles and pillars The IMPACT AI framework offers a structured approach to scaling AI in agriculture, aligning stakeholder efforts around three core pillars: enable, create and deliver. Guided by the principles of prioritizing public interest and safety, adopting risk-based regulation and building trust through transparent validation, the framework ensures inclusivity, sustainability and meaningful impact. Together, these pillars provide a comprehensive roadmap for building an AI-driven agricultural ecosystem, transforming challenges into opportunities through collaboration and innovation. Call to action This playbook serves as a practical guide for stakeholders to collaboratively harness the transformative potential of AI in agriculture Governments must take the lead in creating enabling environments by forming multistakeholder expert groups, crafting AI strategies and establishing frameworks for governance, incentives and data sharing. Start-ups and the AI industry are key drivers of innovation, tasked with developing scalable AI solutions, validating them through sandboxes, and integrating products into accessible marketplaces. Academia and research institutions must support these efforts through applied research, mentoring and creating frameworks for ethical AI deployment. By aligning these efforts, stakeholders can foster an inclusive and scalable AI ecosystem that empowers farmers, drives innovation and transforms agriculture into a resilient and sustainable sector. This is a call for coordinated action to ensure that AI’s benefits reach every farmer and stakeholder, laying the groundwork for a smarter, more equitable future.Three-pillar framework for developing AI ecosystems in agriculture BOX 1 The enable pillar is anchored in the role of governments as primary stakeholders in establishing foundational systems for AI integration. Governments must develop clear strategies that reflect regional agricultural needs while fostering scalability and inclusivity. This involves crafting supportive policies to guide AI procurement, incentivize innovation and ensure data sharing across platforms. Central to this pillar is the creation of robust data infrastructure to aggregate and standardize agricultural data, enabling innovation and equitable access for all stakeholders. The create pillar focuses on driving innovation, where start-ups and innovators play a key role. Collaboration is critical here, as these stakeholders must co-develop AI solutions with research institutions, using domain expertise to address real-world agricultural challenges. Validating solutions is equally important: pilots and controlled testing ensure AI applications are scalable, reliable and contextually relevant, laying the foundation for broader adoption. The deliver pillar ensures that AI solutions reach the last mile, with extension systems and farmer networks as central actors. Strengthening these systems involves training extension workers to integrate AI tools into their advisory roles, ensuring farmers receive achievable insights. Additionally, establishing feedback loops enables ongoing refinement of AI solutions, making them adaptive to farmers’ needs and challenges. Future Farming in India 5