Krishi Saathi: AI-Powered Agricultural Advisory for India’s Farmers

Authored by: Tanushree Dutta

Farmers across India have long relied on Kisan Call Centers (KCCs) for agricultural advice. Whether it’s pest control, weather updates, or mandi prices, the right information at the right time can make all the difference. But inefficiencies in the system—delays in response times, translation challenges, and scattered sources of information—often leave farmers waiting, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours. In agriculture, such delays can mean the difference between a thriving crop and a failing harvest.

Farm Tele Advisors (FTAs) operate the Kisan Call Centers (KCC), a government call center program implemented in multiple states that connects farmers to trained agriculture advisors. This service is a lifeline for many smallholder farmers seeking answers to their questions. During peak seasons, FTAs often put calls on hold while searching for accurate answers, a process that results in up to four minutes spent per query. These delays mean longer wait times for other farmers needing urgent guidance.

Enter Krishi Saathi, an AI-powered chatbot developed by Wadhwani AI to bridge these gaps and make agricultural advisories more efficient, accessible, and accurate. Designed to support both Farm Tele Advisors (FTAs) and farmers, Krishi Saathi is powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and Language Translation Models (LTMs), enabling it to provide instant, expert-vetted responses in multiple local languages. With the ability to process queries in real time, the chatbot delivers precise, contextualized answers on pest management, government schemes, mandi prices, and crop insurance, among other key topics.

A Game-Changer for Agricultural Advisory

For years, FTAs have struggled with the time-consuming process of distilling complex agricultural data into accessible, actionable advice for farmers. But with each call taking between 2 to 4 minutes, the sheer volume of queries limits how many farmers they can assist in a day. With Krishi Saathi, that bottleneck is being reduced.

Krishi Saathi delivers instant and reliable weather updates, enabling FTAs to respond to farmer queries without sifting through multiple resources. The chatbot also summarizes five-day weather forecasts in 11 Indic languages, which FTAs can easily share with farmers via SMS after each call.

Take Sukhdeep Kaur, an FTA from Mohali KCC, who has spent the last six years assisting farmers. “Krishi Saathi has made it easier to provide weather information in Punjabi,” she says. “Sending messages in regional languages has significantly improved our ability to support farmers.”

This multilingual capability is a breakthrough. The chatbot supports 11 Indian languages, ensuring that farmers, regardless of their native tongue, can access critical agricultural insights in a language they understand. And for advisors, the AI-driven system eliminates the need to manually translate or search for information, making responses quicker and more reliable.

Dileep Kumar, a supervisor at the Mohali KCC, emphasizes this impact. “Previously, we spent 2-3 minutes searching for responses. With Krishi Saathi, we have instant access to solutions, improving efficiency.” FTAs he supervised have reported that the chatbot’s integration into the Kisan Knowledge Management System (KKMS) portal had significantly improved their workflow, allowing them to resolve queries faster and more efficiently.

Dr. Manju Yadav, Center Head at Mohali KCC, believes the chatbot is a step in the right direction but sees room for further innovation. “This is a valuable tool, but adding market prices and plant protection information would enhance its utility even further.”

Scaling for the Future

Krishi Saathi is deployed on the KCC portal, where it is accessed by six KCCs that cater to farmers from 11 states and 3 union territories (Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand). Since its launch in August 2024, the chatbot has answered over 279,000 queries.

Its impact is already being felt across multiple states, where it has been deployed to streamline agricultural advisories. But its potential goes beyond borders. As Wadhwani AI continues to refine the chatbot based on real-world feedback, Krishi Saathi is poised to become a global model for AI-driven agricultural support. By equipping farmers and advisors with real-time, contextualized insights, the chatbot is not just a tool—it’s a movement toward strengthening India’s rural economy and ensuring that farmers, the backbone of the nation, have the knowledge they need to thrive.