If you close your eyes and picture “AI,” you probably see servers, screens and start‑ups – not a farmer in a banana field checking her phone before deciding when to irrigate. Budget 2026 invites us to redraw that picture.
This year’s Budget does something subtle but important: it stops treating artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure as side‑shows and starts positioning them as core levers for raising farm productivity and stabilising rural incomes. The clearest symbol of that shift is Bharat‑VISTAAR – a multilingual AI platform designed to put data‑driven, localised advice in every farmer’s hand.
On paper, the agriculture outlay looks familiar. Allocations to agriculture and allied sectors have risen to about ₹1.62–1.63 lakh crore, roughly 7 per cent higher than last year. Flagship schemes like PM‑KISAN, crop insurance and price support continue to anchor the safety net. What is new is the digital layer woven through this continuity – a layer that, if executed well, could change how decisions are made from the plot to the policy table.
