‘Sarlaben’ AI rolled out to help 36 lakh dairy farmers

Anand: Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday launched ‘Amul AI' in Anand, describing the initiative as a major step towards leveraging technology to empower women milk producers and strengthen the state's cooperative dairy ecosystem.The artificial intelligence platform, featuring a digital assistant named ‘Sarlaben', will provide round-the-clock guidance in simple Gujarati on dairy farming and animal husbandry practices to over 36 lakh milk producers across 18,500 villages in Gujarat.
Integrated with Amul's Automatic Milk Collection System and the Pashudhan application, the platform will offer personalised advice on cattle health, vaccination schedules, breeding, feeding practices, and information on government schemes and subsidies.Calling the launch more than just a technological rollout, Patel said the initiative reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Digital India and grassroots empowerment. "Technology has brought even the smallest vendors into the digital mainstream. Amul AI will empower our sisters in villages by providing verified information instantly and in simple language," he said.During the event, women dairy producers from across Gujarat presented a large floral ‘rakhi' for the PM, referring to him as their "brother" for safeguarding the interests of milk producers. The rakhi was formally accepted by the chief minister.Leaders of the cooperative movement, including Gujarat Assembly speaker and Banas Dairy chairman Shankar Chaudhary and agriculture minister Jitu Vaghani, said the Centre's decision to exclude dairy from trade negotiations with the European Union, New Zealand and the United States protected the livelihoods of millions of producers.Jayen Mehta, managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), said Amul AI is powered by the cooperative's extensive IT infrastructure, which manages over 200 crore milk procurement transactions annually along with veterinary and cattle data. The AI assistant will be accessible through the Amul Farmer mobile application and voice-based services, enabling even feature phone users to benefit.Shankar Maruwada, co-founder and CEO of the EkStep Foundation, said the initiative represents a significant step in deploying advanced technology for rural transformation.The AI platform is expected to be showcased at the upcoming India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi and is being positioned as a driver of growth for the rural economy.