New Delhi, Oct 6 (INB) IIT Ropar’s Centre of Excellence for AI in Agriculture, ANNAM.AI, has launched AVNI, a digital learning initiative that uses artificial intelligence and experiential learning to help children understand plants, crops, food and agriculture from an early age, an official statement said on Tuesday. Developed by ANNAM.AI Co-project Director Dr Mukesh Saini, AVNI — “Grow with Nature” — is a web and mobile application that enables children to explore agriculture and nature through AI-powered identification of plants and other elements in their surroundings, according to the institute.
The initiative allows children to explore crops, fruits, vegetables, spices, cereals and millets through their everyday surroundings. It provides content in Hindi and English, along with audio features for younger children, and includes daily challenges, Nature Points, a digital Nature Book, Nature Gallery and interactive features such as Crop Compare. “We are working towards making agricultural knowledge accessible and engaging for the children. AVNI has been developed as a free, ad-free and privacy-focused learning platform, keeping the experience simple, safe and focused on learning and discovery,” Saini said.
ANNAM.AI Project Director Dr Pushpendra P Singh said the initiative was built around the idea that agricultural learning need not begin only in a classroom or when a child takes up agriculture as a subject. “A crop in a school garden, a fruit at home or a plant growing in the neighbourhood can become an opportunity to learn,” Singh said, adding that the initiative seeks to turn children’s everyday curiosity into an early connection with agriculture.
The child-focused platform also prioritises age-appropriate learning, privacy and a safe environment for exploration, the institute said. The development of AVNI is part of ANNAM.AI’s broader work at the intersection of AI, agriculture, education and public-interest technology, it said. The institute said the initiative reflects its vision of developing AI-powered Digital Public Infrastructure for Indian agriculture through open, accessible and scalable solutions that can be adapted to diverse agricultural contexts.
ANNAM.AI is the Centre of Excellence for AI in Agriculture at IIT Ropar and is supported by the Ministry of Education. It works on artificial intelligence, agricultural intelligence and digital technologies, with focus areas including AI, climate intelligence, digital agriculture, farmer advisory and capacity building.
