The pandemic COVID-19 and associated challenges with implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in Indian agriculture

The ongoing pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has resulted a greater burden and loss to farmers in India in view of number of restrictions on movement as well as social interactions, during which scenario the “artificial intelligence (AI)” could act as a catalyst in accelerating their progress in agriculture. This paper provided an evaluation of application and benefits of AI in agriculture and the challenging parameters for implementing AI in Indian agricultural sectors against COVID-19 crisis period. A survey based data was collected from 523 farmers, and interpreted using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC. The associated challenging parameters to implement AI were identified as “responsive time and accuracy levels; the absence of standardisation; a need for huge data; big data costs; method of implementation; versatility; insufficient awareness of context; and loss of employment;” respectively.