PRECISION AGRICULTURE

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched the National‑level Network Program on Precision Agriculture (ICAR‑NePPA) involving 16 ICAR institutes. The programme develops and validates AI, IoT, sensor, drone and satellite‑based technologies for crop, soil, post‑harvest, aquaculture and livestock management. Demonstrated interventions include sensor‑based irrigation, drone spraying, AI‑driven decision support tools, precision shrimp farming (120‑150 t/ha/yr), smart micro‑irrigation, hydroponics, agrivoltaic farming and AI‑enabled disease‑early‑warning systems. Field demonstrations have covered over 41,000 ha, benefitting more than 4.5 lakh farmers, and have shown gains in productivity, farmer income, water‑use efficiency and reduced CO₂ emissions.