The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in collaboration with a consortium of national and international partners, has launched a groundbreaking initiative to deliver personalized, AI-powered climate advisory services to farmers across the Global South.
Aimed at strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience to climate variability, the initiative leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide hyper-local, real-time agrometeorological recommendations.
Dubbed ‘AI-powered Context-Specific Agromet Advisory Services for Climate-Resilient Agriculture at Scale’, the initiative is being implemented under India’s Monsoon Mission III. It was officially launched during an inception workshop held from July 29–30, 2025, at ICRISAT headquarters in Hyderabad.
The effort brings together key institutions including the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)–Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). Additional technical support is being provided by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Center of Excellence in AI for Agriculture (IIT Ropar), CSIR–Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
“This technology, developed in India, holds immense potential for adaptation across the Global South, where farmers face similar climate vulnerabilities,” said Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT. “Through collaboration and innovation, we can scale these solutions to benefit millions by providing advice to manage risks and improve resilience.”
At the core of the initiative is the Intelligent Systems Advisory Tool (iSAT), a digital platform initially developed during Monsoon Mission II. The platform transforms complex climate, weather, and agronomic data into actionable advisories. Under the new initiative, iSAT is being enhanced with AI capabilities to deliver real-time, context-specific recommendations for decisions such as sowing, irrigation, and pest control. These advisories will be distributed through accessible digital platforms, including an AI-powered WhatsApp bot, making it easy for even remote farmers to receive timely guidance.
The project’s initial phase will roll out in Maharashtra, India, through ICAR’s Agro-Meteorological Field Units (AMFUs), targeting smallholder farmers. Lessons learned from this pilot will inform national expansion and serve as a blueprint for broader adoption across the Global South. Additionally, the digital platform developed through this initiative will feed into MausamGPT, a larger climate-tech vision by the Government of India.
“The Government of India envisions MausamGPT as a revolutionary platform that will redefine how localized climate information and recommendations are delivered,” noted Dr. Suryachandra Rao, Director at IITM. “Building on iSAT, it will integrate forecasts, agricultural data, and large language models to deliver on-demand advisory.”
Dr. Shivananda Pai, Head of the Agromet Division at IMD, added that the platform addresses the critical need for accessibility: “Farmers need user-friendly tools to pull climate information when they need it. This initiative bridges the last-mile gap in agrometeorology.”
Dr. Ram Dhulipala, Director of the CGIAR Digital Transformation Accelerator, emphasized that the initiative is a model of digital innovation accelerating agricultural impact. Dr Shalander Kumar, Deputy Global Research Program Director – Enabling Systems Transformation at ICRISAT, noted that it also represents a powerful collaborative framework for co-developing scalable climate-smart solutions for the Global South.
