Amul AI: A virtual assistant for dairy farming

Amul, the world's largest dairy cooperative, has implemented an artificial intelligence system called Amul AI to support 3.6 million milk producers in India. The initiative, named Sarlaben, provides personalized guidance 24 hours a day, based on five decades of cooperative data.

The platform is accessible through the Amul Farmer app, already downloaded by over one million users, and via voice calls for those using traditional phones. The system is integrated with Amul's Automatic Milk Collection System (AMCS) and the Pashudhan application, offering specific advice for each head of cattle.

Data and personalization

Amul AI stands out for the vastness of the data used for training. The platform manages over 2 billion annual milk procurement transactions, records veterinary treatments from over 1,200 doctors on nearly 30 million cattle, tracks approximately 7 million artificial inseminations per year, uses ISRO satellite imagery for mapping fodder production, and is based on a five-year livestock census.

Each animal in the system has a unique ID, with individual records of feed intake, disease history, and milking status. Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), stated that Amul AI aims to provide reliable and verified information directly to farmers, instantly and in a language they understand.

Challenges and opportunities

India is the largest milk producer in the world, but yield per animal remains among the lowest due to small herd sizes, low feed quality, and limited access to veterinary care in rural areas. Amul AI aims to bridge this gap, providing information and support to farmers even in the most remote areas.

The platform is initially available in Gujarati, but could be extended to 20 Indian languages using the government's Bhashini multilingual framework. This would allow reaching Amul's presence in 20,000 villages in 20 states.

The cooperative model as a foundation

Amul's cooperative structure has created the data infrastructure that makes Amul AI possible. Unlike private agri-tech startups that collect data from scratch, Amul already had the data and only needed a way to make it usable at the farmer level.

Industry experts believe that Amul AI can address crucial challenges such as farmer awareness, access to quality veterinary guidance, and connectivity to grazing and feeding resources. The integration of local dialects of Indian languages could lead to a new revolution in the dairy sector.

The launch of Amul AI is supported by the government and will be presented at the AI Impact Summit 2026. The cooperative has recognized MeitY and the EkStep Foundation as partners in building the artificial intelligence layer. Even farmers not affiliated with Amul can access general information on animal husbandry and care through the app.

The success of Amul AI will depend on its ability to reach the farmers who need it most and on the translation of artificial intelligence-based advice into measurable improvements in yield.