CIFRI Awards
Barrackpore,Kolkata, WB
ICAR-CIFRI facilitated live telecast viewing of the Bharat-VISTAAR (Phase-1) launch on 17 February 2026 scientific staff and researchers to participate in this significant milestone for Indian agriculture. The national launch event, held in Jaipur as part of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, marked the inauguration of Bharat-VISTAAR by Honourable Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the presence of Honourable Rajasthan Chief Minister Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma, with virtual participation of lakhs of farmers across the country through networks of ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, agricultural universities, and state agriculture departments.
Bharat-VISTAAR serves as a unified AI-powered digital gateway for farmers, addressing the challenge of scattered agricultural information by bringing services such as weather forecasts, market prices, crop advisories, pest and disease alerts, soil health information, insurance, credit services, and government schemes onto a single platform. Farmers can access the system through voice calls, chatbots, and upcoming mobile app interfaces, enabling easy communication in their own language.
In Phase-1, services are available in Hindi and English, covering major schemes such as PM-KISAN and PMFBY while also integrating real-time advisory support. During the program, Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR), highlighted that AI functions as a convergence platform bringing together multiple agricultural departments and services in one place, making agricultural support more accessible and efficient for farmers nationwide.
