As India enters the kharif sowing season, a WhatsApp-based AI advisory service named Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra has emerged as a powerful tool for delivering research-based knowledge on oilseed cultivation directly to farmers’ mobile phones, anytime and in their own language.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said that the initiative enables any oilseed farmer in India to access free, trusted, and instant crop advisory simply through WhatsApp.
The Ministry noted that farmers can save the number +91 4024598180 as Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra on WhatsApp and ask questions in any Indian language about groundnut, mustard, sesame, sunflower, soybean, niger, and other oilseed crops.
The Director of ICAR–Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, said that Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra marks the first time that ICAR’s collective oilseed research has been made accessible to farmers across the country through such a platform.
