Alarm bells for Punjab, Haryana: AI farming may deepen debt, says report

Bathinda:A global report warning that AI-driven, capital-intensive farming could deepen debt and marginalise smaller cultivators has direct relevance for Punjab and Haryana, where high input costs, rising farm loans and rapid mechanisation already shape agricultural realities. Institutional farm debt in the two states together exceeds ₹2 lakh crore, with average debt per agricultural household estimated at over Rs 2 lakh in Punjab and nearly Rs 1.8 lakh in Haryana.The report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), released on Wednesday, said Big Tech firms were joining forces with agribusiness giants to reshape agriculture through AI, precision tools and digital platforms.Titled Head in the Cloud, the report argued that far from empowering farmers or tackling climate change, the rapid digital push risked increasing debt, accelerating farm loss, worsening ecological damage and concentrating corporate control over food production.It said industrial agriculture was being rebuilt around data-driven "precision" systems spanning seeds, chemicals and machinery, requiring high upfront investment that heightened financial risks and sidelined smaller producers. These data-intensive models also consumed large amounts of energy, minerals and water, reinforced monoculture practices and increased vulnerability to climate shocks.The report warned that AI and cloud-based platforms were increasingly steering decisions on crops and inputs through proprietary algorithms with limited transparency, reducing farmers' autonomy. It added that companies were extracting farm data for profit while farmers retained little control or ownership.A small group of technology firms was gaining unprecedented influence over future food systems, it said. Punjab has about 3.6 lakh and Haryana over 11.1 lakh small and marginal farmers, even as average landholdings — 3.6 hectares in Punjab and 2.2 hectares in Haryana — remain among the highest in India.The report highlighted farmer-led alternatives such as open-source tools, participatory crop breeding and ecological pest management that were improving climate resilience, biodiversity and local economies but received far less funding than corporate platforms.It stressed that amid climate instability and geopolitical tensions, innovation must be redirected towards equitable and sustainable food systems.