The inauguration of SEMICON India 2025 in New Delhi brought global attention to India’s ambition of becoming a semiconductor hub. Ten projects worth US$ 18 billion (INR 1.5 lakh crore) are now underway, backed by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and policy frameworks such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) and Design Linked Incentive (DLI) schemes.
The three day SEMICON India 2025 conference at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, brought together 350 companies and delegates from nearly 50 countries, setting a new benchmark for India’s growing role in the global semiconductor ecosystem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that India is building a complete semiconductor value chain, from design and manufacturing to packaging, with long term policy commitments. For agriculture, this emphasis signals a future where chips designed and made in India could power affordable farm technologies, from sensors and drones to cold chain systems, making advanced tools more accessible to smallholders.
Digital Foundations for Agriculture
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described semiconductors as the “digital diamonds” of the 21st century and stressed the importance of moving quickly “from file to factory.” The country’s first indigenous chip, the Vikram-32, validated on a PSLV mission, was presented to him as evidence of India’s new design and fabrication capacity. In Gujarat, the Sanand OSAT pilot line has begun operations, expected to roll out millions of chips daily by 2026.
“We are creating a semiconductor ecosystem that makes India self-reliant and globally competitive. The day is not far when India’s smallest chip will drive the world’s biggest change. Our journey began late but nothing can stop us now. India has reached here following the mantra of Reform, Perform and Transform. In the coming times, we are going to start a new phase of next generation reforms. We are also working on the next phase of the India Semiconductor Mission. Our policies are not short-term signals; they are long-term commitments.”
Semiconductors hold the potential to bring Indian agriculture a new wave of tools, from rainfall sensors and seeding drones to cold chain systems and financial data platforms. By enabling local manufacturing, chips can lower costs and boost the reliability of technologies like irrigation controls, greenhouse automation, and AI powered monitoring, which until now have relied on imports. If made affordable and accessible, these innovations could significantly benefit farmers, particularly smallholders.
Agrotech experts share key insights on the transformative role semiconductors could play in agriculture. From enabling smarter irrigation and low cost automation to supporting climate resilient practices and financial inclusion, chips have the potential to reshape how smallholder farmers interact with technology.
Building Better Agritech with Local Silicon
For Amrita Jagatdeo, Co-founder and Director of ThinkRaw, the rise of India’s semiconductor capacity is inseparable from the ability of agritech startups to innovate quickly and affordably. “With the Indian government’s steadily rising emphasis on manufacturing semiconductors in India, we see a better cost and quality control on the precision farming applications that startups like us are building,” she explained.
She emphasised that today’s startups face delays and high costs because components often have to be imported. With local manufacturing, products could reach farmers more quickly and at lower cost. This matters, she argued, because climate volatility is straining food security and pushing farmers to adopt new practices. “Semiconductors will help with weather prediction, precision farming with controlled water, pesticide and fertiliser usage and also with post harvest storage,” she said. By enabling farmers to harvest at optimal levels with reduced risk, chips could become as fundamental as seeds or fertilisers in the agricultural toolkit.
The Road to Smarter, Sustainable Farming
Ashutosh Tiwari, Founder and CEO of Nkosh, called India’s semiconductor mission a “game changer” for agriculture. He pointed out that advanced technologies such as AI based diagnostics, precision irrigation, and automation have so far remained out of reach due to high costs and import reliance. Domestic semiconductor production, he said, will change that equation.
“For farmers, this means greater access to smart sensors and IoT devices for real time soil health, irrigation, and crop monitoring, affordable drones for spraying and mapping, AI powered handheld diagnostic tools for pest detection, soil testing, and yield prediction, and battery operated farm machinery and robotics with better efficiency due to locally manufactured chips,” Ashutosh Tiwari explained.
He also tied semiconductors to the larger challenge of sustainability. Local chips can power renewable and battery driven machinery, cutting dependence on diesel. They can enable AI models that integrate weather, soil, and satellite data, helping farmers make climate resilient decisions. And they can support digital marketplaces, ensuring transparent and inclusive access to smallholders. “At Nkosh, we see semiconductors not just as chips, but as building blocks of rural empowerment,” he said.
Balancing Data and Intuition on the Farm
For Madhukar Swayambhu, Co-founder and research head of Vaidic Srijan, precision farming should be defined carefully. He sees it as a cycle of data collection, analysis, decision making, and deployment through automation. Tools like GPS, drones, sensors, and AI fit within this framework, but he cautioned against treating data as a replacement for farmers’ intuitive knowledge.
“Are the farmers of Bharat farming based on data, or do they have a connect with their crops and animals, based on years of intuitive observation?” he asked. He believes semiconductors should power technologies that genuinely add value, such as weather forecasting, market analysis for crop choices, or drones for targeted foliar spraying, rather than driving farmers into costly, unnecessary practices.
Affordability, he stressed, is a serious barrier. Unless the government subsidises 90 to 95 percent of costs, smallholders may never access these tools. He also raised environmental concerns, noting that chip making requires vast amounts of water and that AI model training consumes immense energy. “Is that a use or an abuse of technology?” he asked, insisting that sustainable agriculture must remain in sync with natural systems.
Making Precision Tools Reach the Grassroots
For Madhuri Garg, Director of Sarus Agro, underscores how local semiconductor manufacturing could bridge the access gap between cutting edge agritech and everyday farmers. She notes that tools such as sensors, AI enabled modules, and drone electronics have often been confined to well funded pilot programs or larger farms, mostly due to prohibitive costs and supply chain limitations. “With local chip production, the cost and availability of sensors, AI modules, and drone electronics will improve,” she explains, “making precision farming and automation tools far more accessible to Indian farmers at the grassroots.”
Madhuri Garg’s perspective highlights a shift from innovation as a luxury to innovation as a necessity. She envisions a future where advances in agritech are not just talked about in conference halls but become part of daily farming practices in rural India. When chips are affordable and built for local conditions, smallholders can benefit from technologies that improve productivity, reduce input costs, and protect ecological resilience.
Sensors and IoT: The Immediate Breakthrough
Poonam Dhonde, Co-founder & Marketing Officer of TransTrak, believes that the earliest benefits of India’s chip expansion will show up in affordable sensors and IoT systems. “Where we see short to mid term impact is IoT, sensors, low power communication, and greenhouse automation,” she said.
She explained that soil quality tools, rainfall sensors, and greenhouse automation are highly price sensitive, and local production of chips can reduce upfront costs considerably. This could make it easier for small farmers to adopt precision farming without prohibitive investment.
While she acknowledged that advanced AI chips and satellite-linked technologies will continue to rely on global suppliers, Poonam Dhonde emphasised that farmer facing devices, the ones farmers directly use, will become more affordable. “Collecting data at the farm and presenting it through low cost displays or smartphones could become cheaper and more available to smallholder farmers,” she said.
Drones on the Path to Becoming the Next Tractor
Dr Preet Sandhu, Founder & MD of AVPL International, placed drones at the centre of semiconductor enabled change in agriculture. She argued that while drones today are mostly used for spraying, their high costs and reliance on imported components have kept them out of reach for most farmers. With local chip production, however, she believes drones could become affordable, multi purpose machines for Indian agriculture.
“Farmers can then buy drones the way they buy tractors today, not only for spraying but also for other activities,” she said. She envisions a future where drones are no longer niche devices but everyday companions in the field, capable of seeding, crop monitoring, mapping, soil analysis, and real time data collection.
Dr Preet Sandhu emphasised that local semiconductor manufacturing would also allow Indian companies to design drone components suited to local conditions, from the heat and dust of central India to the high humidity of coastal regions. This adaptability, she noted, could make drones far more reliable than current models built primarily for international markets.
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From Finance to Food Security: The Promise of Sensors
Sowjanya Bonda, Partner at AND Business Consulting highlighted a less discussed but equally critical role of semiconductors: enabling financial inclusion. She observed that despite RBI’s priority sector lending norms, only a small fraction of farmers currently access formal finance.
“Sensor based monitoring and predictive analytics have the potential ability to change this situation for farmers,” she said, noting that aquaculture has already demonstrated how sensor data can give banks the confidence to extend credit. If semiconductor manufacturing lowers the cost of IoT devices, such models could spread across agriculture, allowing farmers to use sensor data as collateral.
She also emphasised the environmental benefits. In crops like chilli, pre emptive spraying of pesticides has become routine, raising both costs and climate risks. “Sensor based predictive analytics can help smallholders shift back to need based and precision spraying,” she explained. This, she added, can cut costs, minimise environmental damage, and improve nutritional quality in food.
Chips as the Engine of Efficient Farming
Vijay Singh, MD and CEO of Shunya Agritech, described semiconductors as the “hidden engine” behind modern farming. He argued that the localisation of chip production will reduce costs and make agritech solutions more practical for Indian conditions.
He pointed to specific use cases: NavIC enabled guidance systems for tractors, drones capable of precise spraying and planting, and AI powered cameras that identify crop stress or grade produce directly at the farm gate. “Smarter pump controllers with soil sensors ensure water is used only when needed,” Singh explained. He also highlighted the importance of IoT enabled cold storage and traceability systems, which can help farmers cut losses and improve access to credit and insurance.
For Singh, semiconductors are not just a technological upgrade but a way of redefining the economics of farming. By powering efficiency, reducing waste, and enhancing market access, chips could help move agriculture from being resource intensive to becoming more data driven and inclusive.
Converging Technology and Agriculture
The voices converge on a shared vision: semiconductors could reshape Indian agriculture by making advanced tools more affordable, practical, and inclusive. For Amrita Jagatdeo, they mean faster R&D cycles. For Ashutosh Tiwari, they are the building blocks of rural empowerment. For Madhukar Swayambhu, they must remain grounded in sustainability. For Madhuri Garg, they mean grassroots access. For Poonam Dhonde, they will unlock affordable IoT and sensors. For Dr Preet Sandhu, they will redefine drones. For Sowjanya Bonda, they could open pathways to finance and smarter pesticide use. And for Vijay Singh, they are the hidden engine of resilient farming.
While SEMICON India 2025 showcased the country’s industrial ambition, its most lasting legacy may be written in the fields, where the fusion of chips and crops could strengthen smallholder resilience, improve sustainability, and shape the future of food security.
