DIGITAL AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION: AI, EVIDENCE AND PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCE AND INCLUSION

ABOUT THE EVENT

As India advances its Digital Agriculture Mission and strengthens its Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture, there is a growing need to examine how digital innovations, artificial intelligence, data systems, and evidence-based policymaking can contribute to more productive, climate-resilient, and inclusive agri-food systems.

Given this context, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations are jointly organizing a Panel Discussion titled “Digital Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation: AI, Evidence and Partnerships for Sustainability, Resilience and Inclusion” at the Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA) Regional Seminar.

The session will bring together policymakers, development partners and private-sector experts to discuss pathways for translating digital innovations into scalable solutions that benefit farmers, extension systems, and value chain actors.

The session will also feature a panel discussion titled, “From Pilots to Scale: What Will Make Digital Agriculture Actionable, Inclusive, and Accountable?”, which will explore key issues including digital public infrastructure, AI-enabled advisory systems, climate-smart agriculture, evidence and impact assessment, responsible data governance, and institutional mechanisms for scaling digital agriculture.

Objectives:

• Assess the current state of India’s digital agriculture transition and its implications for food systems transformation, farmer incomes, and climate resilience.
• Highlight innovative and AI-enabled approaches such as digital public infrastructure, remote sensing, crop and climate analytics, advisory decision-support systems, and generative AI-enabled service delivery.
• Discuss how research evidence, economic analysis, field-tested innovations, and private-sector capabilities can be combined to move digital agriculture from pilots to scalable institutional models.
• Examine safeguards for inclusion, particularly for smallholders, women farmers, lagging regions, and digitally excluded communities.
• Identify priority areas for collaborations on digital agriculture, climate-smart advisory systems, impact evidence, policy support, and responsible data governance.