Punjab govt to deploy AI solutions to improve farm productivity and incomes

The Punjab government plans to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agriculture to improve farm productivity, sustainability and farmers’ income, with support from the Centre of Excellence at IIT Ropar, officials said on Thursday.

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian chaired a meeting at Punjab Bhawan here to review the progress of ongoing initiatives and prepare a roadmap for the field-level use of AI-based solutions in the agriculture sector.

During the meeting, Khudian said that the adoption of new technologies must deliver clear and tangible benefits to farmers.

He assured that the state government would extend full support for pilot projects and would work towards expanding successful AI-based initiatives across Punjab.

The minister also directed officials to install automatic weather stations across agricultural areas and ensure farmers are actively involved in data collection processes.

He said efforts should be made to support horticulture clusters and expand the use of AI-based solutions to improve livestock productivity in the state.

Khudian welcomed IIT Ropar’s proposal to start national-level courses on precision agriculture and AI in agriculture aimed at training youth and government officers. He said reserving seats for students and officers from Punjab would help strengthen the state’s agri-technology capacity.

Officials said the collaboration between the Punjab government and IIT Ropar is expected to help position the state as a leading hub for AI-driven agricultural development, with a focus on improving resource efficiency, enhancing climate resilience and promoting sustainable growth.

Pushpendra P Singh of IIT Ropar informed the meeting that the Centre of Excellence, supported by the Centre with a financial outlay of about Rs 310 crore, is working on several AI-based initiatives.

These include crop advisory systems, multilingual farmer chatbots, yield estimation models, soil health analysis tools, weather-based applications and smart livestock management solutions.