New Delhi, Feb 19 (.) ITC Limited has announced plans to scale up its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led agriculture ecosystem, extending advanced digital solutions to Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs), organic farmers, and rural communities. The move aims to strengthen its flagship agri-tech platform, ITCMAARS, as part of its broader ‘Next Gen Agriculture’ strategy.
By deploying new Generative AI applications and Agentic AI capabilities, ITC is expanding its pioneering ITCMAARS phygital ecosystem into a resilient, connected, intelligence-driven agri-stack at scale, the company said in a statement.
“This is an integral part of ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri’s strategy and commitment to usher in ‘Next Gen Agriculture’ for Indian farmers. As a company working for more than a century with farmers, ITC’s digital stack for agriculture, led by ITCMAARS, aims to reach 10 million farmers, enabling rural development and progress,” it added.
Launched in 2022, ITCMAARS has evolved into a full-stack “Farming as a Service” (FaaS) platform, combining a digital super app with on-ground human engagement through FPOs. The ecosystem has already benefitted over 2.2 million farmers and 2,100 FPOs across 11 states.
According to pilot estimates, integrated interventions have led to a 10–15 per cent reduction in fertiliser usage, 15–20 per cent improvement in crop yields, and nearly 25 per cent increase in overall farm incomes.
ITCMAARS combines the benefits of digital technologies delivered through a superapp, specially designed to provide tailor-made solutions for small farmers, along with on-ground human engagement by leveraging FPOs as the anchor.
ITCMAARS also offers a separate app, customized for the needs of FPOs present in its ecosystem. Extending the benefits of this FPO app, the model now plans to introduce AI solutions to improve the efficiency of FPO operations, helping them scale up.
S Ganesh Kumar, Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business, ITC Ltd, said, “Today, ITC’s Next Generation Agriculture initiative is powered by the ITCMAARS, a full range crop-agnostic ‘phygital’ model that aims to democratize the access of latest technologies for small farmers, helping them win over critical challenges of climate change, crop management, and market access. Our AI strategy in agriculture focuses on orchestrating a multi-stakeholder inclusive ecosystem that aims to enhance efficiency at every node of farming operation from crop planning, climate-smart advisories, production, input linkages, procurement, and market discovery.”
“We are continuously innovating and forging new partnerships to progressively enhance the scope of AI applications for diverse agri stakeholders and specific farming needs,” he added.
At the core of this ecosystem is Krishi Mitra, an AI-powered Agri co-pilot, developed with Microsoft, which is the first of its kind globally.
Available in eight Indian languages, the Krishi Mitra functionality within the ITCMAARS app helps bridge long-standing information asymmetry for farmers by answering queries on crops, practices, weather, prices, and government schemes.
It has resolved close to 2 lakh unique farmer queries within 2 years, helping farmers take informed selling decisions, improve access to subsidies, practice precision farming, and prepare better for adverse weather events.
. VK VAN RSA