New Delhi, July 2 -- India plans a nationwide roll-out of its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven pest detection scheme to help farmers, agriculture and farmers welfare secretary Devesh Chaturvedi told Mint.

The National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS), launched on 15 August, 2024, has seen a limited roll out for around 30,000 users so far, including farmers and extension workers.

But it will ultimately be made available for around 146 million farmers. The scheme uses images of pests to help farmers mitigate pest attacks and reduce crop losses.

The development assumes significance given that average crop losses are estimated at 10-35% annually due to weeds, pests and disease.

Losses due to pest and diseases are not static and vary fro...