IIT Ropar launches AVNI to bring agriculture closer to children through AI

New Delhi: A plant in a school garden, a fruit at home or a crop growing in the neighbourhood could soon become a classroom for children. IIT Ropar’s Centre of Excellence in AI for Digital Agriculture, ANNAM.AI, has launched AVNI – Grow with Nature, a digital learning platform designed to introduce children to plants, crops, food and agriculture through everyday experiences.

Available as a web and mobile application, AVNI combines artificial intelligence with hands-on learning. Children can use the platform to identify and explore crops, fruits, vegetables, spices, cereals and millets around them, turning simple observation into an introduction to agricultural knowledge.

The idea behind AVNI is to bring agricultural learning outside the classroom.

Instead of waiting for children to study agriculture as a formal subject, the platform encourages them to begin with what they already see around them. A crop in a school garden or a fruit on the dining table can become an opportunity to understand where food comes from and how agriculture connects with everyday life.

The platform uses AI-powered identification to help children learn about plants and crops. It also combines this with activities that encourage observation and continued exploration rather than simply providing information.

AVNI has been designed and developed by Dr Mukesh Saini, Co-project Director of ANNAM.AI at IIT Ropar. The platform includes content in Hindi and English, along with audio support for younger learners.

Its features include daily challenges, Nature Points, a digital Nature Book, Nature Gallery and Crop Compare. These tools are intended to encourage children to observe their surroundings, record their discoveries and compare different plants and crops as part of the learning process.

The platform is also designed to be free, ad-free and privacy-focused, with a child-oriented digital environment.

For ANNAM.AI, the initiative is part of a wider effort to make agricultural knowledge more accessible through technology.

Dr Pushpendra P. Singh, Project Director, ANNAM.AI, IIT Ropar, has described AVNI as an effort to connect AI with experiential learning, using children's everyday curiosity to build an early understanding of plants, food and the agricultural ecosystem.

That approach is particularly relevant for a country where agriculture remains closely connected with food, livelihoods and rural economies, but where many children may have limited direct exposure to farming.

ANNAM.AI is working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, agriculture and digital technology, with a broader focus on developing AI-powered digital infrastructure for Indian agriculture. AVNI extends that work into agricultural awareness and learning.

The larger significance of the initiative lies in this shift: AI is not being positioned only as a tool for farmers, crop management or agricultural advisory. It is also being used to help the next generation understand the plants they see, the food they eat and the farming systems behind them.

For agriculture, that early connection could be an important starting point for building greater awareness of farming, food systems and the role of technology in the sector.