AI Tools To Help, Advise Farmers To Reduce Risks: Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech announced Bharat Vistar, a new AI-based tool designed to make farming easier and more organised. 

Elaborating on the AI tool, the Finance Minister on Sunday said, "Bharat Vistar - Virtually Integrated System to access Agricultural Resources. I propose to launch Bharat Vistar, a multilingual AI tool that shall integrate the agri-stack portals and the ICAR package on agricultural practices with AI systems."

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Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech further highlighted the government's focus on strengthening agricultural diversification and rural livelihoods. Emphasising support for farmers across varied geographies, she outlined initiatives aimed at boosting high-value crops-from coconut, sandalwood, cocoa and cashew in coastal regions to agar in the Northeast, and almonds, walnuts and pine nuts in hilly areas.

VIDEO | Union Budget 2026: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) said, "To diversify farm outputs, increase productivity, enhance farmers' incomes and create new employment opportunities, we will support high-value crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa, and… pic.twitter.com/1VtKOwH0DJ

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She said, "To diversify farm outputs, increase productivity, enhance farmers' incomes and create new employment opportunities, we will support high-value crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa, and cashew in the coastal areas. Agar trees in the Northeast and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts in our hilly regions. All of them will be supported."

"India is the world's largest producer of coconuts. About 30 million people, including nearly 10 million farmers, depend on coconuts for their livelihood. To further enhance competitiveness in coconut production, I propose a coconut promotion scheme to increase production and enhance productivity through various interventions, including replacing non-productive trees with new saplings or plants or varieties in major coconut growing states," the Finance Minister further said.