Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launches ‘Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra’ AI Advisory Service

Key facts

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched ‘Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra’, a WhatsApp-based artificial intelligence (AI) powered advisory service for oilseed farmers.
• Developed by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (ICAR-IIOR), Hyderabad, the service was launched on February 6, 2026, during the National Oilseeds Conference in New Delhi.
• The initiative was launched by the Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of ICAR to increase domestic oilseed production and reduce edible oil imports.
• The platform provides 24x7 guidance in multiple Indian languages for crops including groundnut, mustard, sesame, sunflower, soybean, and niger.
• The knowledge base was developed in collaboration with the ICAR-National Soybean Research Institute (Indore), ICAR-Indian Institute of Groundnut Research (Junagadh), ICAR-Indian Institute of Rapeseed and Mustard Research (Bharatpur), and the PC Unit (Sesame and Niger).