By:- Dr. P.S. Gahlaut, Managing Director, Indian Potash Limited
In order to increase crop production, the country needs to significantly increase farm mechanisation and adopt modern farming techniques. In this regard, the announcement of establishing Bharat-VISTAAR (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), a multilingual AI tool which would integrate the AgriStack portals and the ICAR package on agricultural practices with AI systems, is a timely move. It is expected to promote deployment of precision farming technologies across geographies and crops, thus allowing farmers to make informed decisions, which in turn would help enhance crop yield and nutrition by promoting optimum utilisation of resources such as water, fertilizers and other agro-chemicals.
Further, the announcement of a Credit-Linked Subsidy Programme for Animal Husbandry sector in the budget 2026-27 is a step in the right direction. The likely creation of livestock, dairy and poultry-focused integrated-value chains, and Livestock Farmer Producers Organisations, is expected to empower the next generation of rural livestock owners, which may emerge as a sustainable sources of employment and high-growth business opportunities.