(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: Soon, farmers in the country will have access to a virtual classroom wherein they can learn best agricultural practices and improve productivity. It will also help improve farmers' access to credit, insurance, and digital marketplaces.

As part of the plan, the Union agriculture and farmers' welfare ministry will shortly launch a digital platform-Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources (VISTAAR)-designed to connect farmers in real time with vital agricultural information and services, said two officials aware of the development.

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The platform is focused on building a more informed, skilled, and empowered farming community. By linking farmers with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), research institutions, and agri-startups, the digital platform plans to bridge the gap between scientific research and field application. This comes in the backdrop of the agriculture and allied sectors contributing around 18% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with around 46% of India's workforce dependent on agriculture.

“We are working on the modalities and soon VISTAAR would be launched for the farmers. The open and innovative network is designed to increase the incomes of small-scale farmers. This would be done by digitising the social networks that farmers and those who work with them such as scientists, agriculture extension workers, and startups will share knowledge with each other at an unprecedented scale," said the first of the two officials cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The platform aims to digitally empower farmers by giving them easy access to reliable, real-time agricultural information and services. It helps farmers learn modern farming techniques, make informed decisions, and improve productivity. By integrating weather, soil, market, and research data on one platform, it would promote precision farming, reduce risks, boost income, and support sustainable, technology-driven agriculture across the country.

One of the main features of the platform is that it will let experts give personalized agricultural advice to agriculture extension workers and farmers using AI-powered, multilingual tools such as chat systems, mobile apps, and web portals. This will make farm advisories faster, more relevant, and easier to understand, helping extension workers quickly identify and address farmers' needs at the field level.

With such an interface, extension workers and farmers can ask questions and receive immediate answers in local languages using voice and text across India languages, which will be supported by Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform that aims to break down language barriers by providing access to government services and digital content in multiple Indian languages. The responses would include relevant videos and feature farmer innovations.

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“Further, the assistance to the farmers will continually improve with each interaction and from feedback provided by extension workers and farmers, which would ensure future conversations are better tailored to local farming conditions," said the second person.

Queries emailed to the ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare remained unanswered till press time.

With more locally-customised advisory, farmers will have the ability to adopt climate-smart farming practices that lead to real productivity and income gains. "The initiative will go a long way in increasing production by skilling farmers and can serve as key inputs for policymaking as well as policy research," said Shweta Saini, chief executive officer, Arcus Policy Research.

"The initiative will help farmers by providing real-time, location-specific advisories using digital tools, satellite data, and AI. It will act as a virtual classroom, enabling farmers to learn best practices in crop management, irrigation, and pest control," said a former scientist associated with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

According to the first person, the approach ensures that farmers, regardless of gender, can access the content through various channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram, a standalone app, interactive voice response (IVR), and other social media.

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Beyond just extension workers and individual farmers, the platform is likely to empower diverse farmer groups, such as women-led self-help groups and FPOs (Farmer Producer Organization).“Once it's operational, we can tap into the network to access and benefit from government programs as well as climate-smart practices," said Puneet Singh Thind, founder and director of Haryana-based Northern Farmers Mega FPO.

“At the moment, farmers have access to many resources to seek information online, but it is very difficult to ascertain the authenticity of the information. In such a scenario, the open Digital Public Infrastructure for agricultural extension VISTAAR will go a long way in disseminating right information," said Umendra Dutt, executive director of the Kheti Virasat Mission. The organization is engaged in promoting organic farming across India.

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