India and ASEAN Set New 2026–30 Agriculture Agenda With Focus on AI, Food Security and Resilient Supply Chains

India and ASEAN are preparing a new five-year programme for agricultural cooperation that will bring artificial intelligence, digital farming, climate-resilient crops, food security and stronger agricultural supply chains to the centre of their partnership.

The priorities were agreed at the 9th ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AIMMAF), held in New Delhi on September 9, 2026.

The meeting was co-chaired by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines, representing the Chair of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry.

The two sides agreed that agriculture cooperation must increasingly respond to pressures ranging from extreme weather and disrupted trade routes to volatile fertiliser prices, plant diseases and changing food-security requirements.

New Five-Year Agriculture Plan

The principal outcome is the proposed ASEAN–India Medium-Term Plan of Action for Cooperation in Agriculture and Forestry 2026–2030.

The programme will organise cooperation around four broad areas: food security, trade and resilient value chains; digital innovation and institutional networking; technology cooperation and joint research; and human-resource development, including exchanges involving farmers.

Unlike a broad diplomatic declaration, the plan is intended to be translated into a rolling programme with identified projects, implementing agencies, timelines and expected outcomes.

Senior officials from India and ASEAN have been tasked with developing that implementation framework.

AI and Digital Agriculture Move Up the Agenda

Digital technology will form a prominent part of the next phase of cooperation.

India and ASEAN plan to expand work involving artificial intelligence, Internet of Things technologies and other digital tools in agriculture and forestry.

Potential applications include precision farming, crop monitoring, soil management, better use of water and improved agricultural advisory services.

The two sides had already begun cooperation involving AI, IoT and machine learning for precision agriculture during the 2021–25 action plan. The next programme is intended to move further towards practical deployment and wider adoption.

A particular concern is ensuring that technologies developed by research institutions actually reach farms.

India and ASEAN therefore want closer links between scientists, technology developers, agricultural-extension agencies, private companies and farmers’ organisations.

Climate-Resilient Crops and Low-Emission Rice

Climate adaptation is another major part of the programme.

One proposed area is cooperation on low-emission rice cultivation and improved water productivity.

Rice is both a major staple across India and Southeast Asia and an important source of agricultural methane emissions. Improving cultivation methods could therefore support food production while lowering environmental impact.

The programme will also promote climate-resilient and nutritious crops, soil-health management and greater use of bio-inputs.

This builds on earlier India–ASEAN cooperation around millets. ASEAN–India Millets Festivals were held in Jakarta and New Delhi in 2023, promoting crops that require relatively fewer resources while offering nutritional benefits.

Protecting Fertiliser, Seed and Food Supply Chains

The New Delhi meeting also focused heavily on vulnerabilities in agricultural supply chains.

India and ASEAN identified several pressures affecting agriculture: geopolitical and economic tensions, volatile energy and fertiliser markets, disruptions to trade and logistics, extreme weather, transboundary pests and animal diseases.

They agreed that keeping essential agricultural inputs moving during periods of disruption should become a regional priority.

That includes maintaining supply chains for fertilisers, seeds and pesticides, diversifying sources of supply and improving regional monitoring and early-warning mechanisms.

Small farmers and other vulnerable groups are to receive particular attention when food or agricultural-input markets come under pressure.

Trade and Agricultural Logistics

Agricultural cooperation will also have a stronger trade component.

India and ASEAN agreed to work on market connectivity and access, alongside technologies for food processing, preservation and post-harvest management.

Improving agricultural and forestry logistics is another priority, with the objective of making it easier to move produce between farms, processing centres and markets.

Reducing post-harvest losses and food waste has been specifically identified for cooperation.

The programme will also explore value-added processing, enabling agricultural products to be processed closer to where they are produced and potentially increasing returns for farmers and rural enterprises.

Alternatives to Crop-Residue Burning

One notable addition to the agenda is cooperation on alternatives to open burning of crop residue.

India and ASEAN will explore technologies and practices capable of converting agricultural residues into economically useful products rather than burning them in fields.

This links with another proposed area: the circular bioeconomy, where agricultural waste and biological resources are reused for products such as energy, fertilisers or industrial materials.

The issue has particular relevance to India, where seasonal crop-residue burning remains an environmental and agricultural-management challenge.

Forestry and Landscape Restoration

The 2026–30 programme extends beyond agriculture.

India and ASEAN intend to cooperate on sustainable forest management, landscape restoration, agroforestry and forest monitoring.

The two sides also want to develop responsible forest-based value chains and community enterprises, connecting forest conservation with livelihoods.

These priorities reflect ASEAN’s wider Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan 2026–2030 and its longer-term ASEAN 2045 vision.

Fifty Agricultural Fellowships for ASEAN Students

Education and scientific exchanges will continue under the partnership.

One of the notable initiatives from the previous cooperation period was the ASEAN–India Fellowship for Higher Education in Agriculture and Allied Sciences, launched in 2024.

The programme provides 50 Master’s fellowships over five years for students from ASEAN member countries.

India and ASEAN now intend to expand human-resource development through scientist exchanges, farmer-to-farmer programmes, institutional cooperation and training.

Farmer organisations, cooperatives, MSMEs, financial institutions and private companies are also expected to participate in implementing the new programme.

From Research Projects to Work on the Farm

A recurring theme of the New Delhi meeting was the need to turn research into usable agricultural solutions.

India and ASEAN already have extensive scientific institutions working on crops, soil, forestry, biotechnology and agricultural engineering. The challenge is getting successful technologies beyond laboratories and experimental farms.

The new programme therefore places greater emphasis on technology transfer, extension services and scalable farmer-centred projects.

Rather than measuring cooperation simply through meetings or research papers, the two sides want projects with measurable results and the potential to be expanded across different countries.

Progress will be periodically monitored, while existing ASEAN–India funding mechanisms and national resources may be used to support agreed projects.

Agriculture Becomes a Wider Strategic Partnership

Agriculture has gradually become an important practical element of the ASEAN–India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The previous 2021–25 programme produced cooperation on food security, soil health, sustainable farming, digitalisation and scientific exchanges. The next phase is considerably broader, reflecting growing concerns over climate change and disruptions to international food and agricultural-input markets.

The 2026–30 agenda also shows how agricultural diplomacy is changing. Cooperation increasingly covers not simply crop production but AI, data, resilient logistics, environmental management, food processing and technology transfer.

India and ASEAN will review progress at the 10th ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry in 2028.

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Reference

Press Information Bureau, Government of India — September 10, 2026
9th ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting Reaffirms Commitment to Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Resilient Value Chains
Official account of the September 9, 2026 ASEAN–India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry and the proposed Medium-Term Plan of Action for 2026–2030.

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