AgriHub At IIT Indore Emerges As Major AI Centre For Smart Farming

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The ‘AgriHub,’ Innovation Hub for Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, is emerging as a major centre for AI-based agricultural innovation in India.

Inaugurated on January 27, 2025, the hub is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Madhya Pradesh Department of Science and Technology, and industry partners. 

It is led by Prof. Aruna Tiwari along with researchers from ICAR institutions and C-DAC Pune.

AgriHub is currently working on 11 research projects that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and deep learning to improve farming. 

These include soil testing kits, smart pesticide spraying systems, crop disease detection tools, and early warning systems for soybean diseases.

Other developments include groundwater forecasting tools, leaf-based disease detection systems, and genome analysis tools to support crop improvement.

The hub has recently approved 10 more AI-based genomics projects, taking the total to 21 ongoing projects along with one startup. 

These projects focus on important crops like wheat, rice, soybean, and chickpea to support food security and farmers’ income.

AgriHub has also set up a high-performance computing centre and a private cloud system called ‘AgriEdgeX,’ equipped with powerful NVIDIA GPUs. This makes it one of the most advanced agri-research facilities in Central India.

The centre conducted several workshops on AI, drones, IoT, and genomics to train students, researchers, and industry professionals. It has also collaborated with national and international platforms to promote agricultural innovation.

Officials at IIT Indore said the goal is to use modern technology to create sustainable and smart farming solutions that directly benefit farmers and improve productivity across India.