Bharat-VISTAAR 155261: Free AI Farm Advice by Phone

Most farm apps assume a smartphone, mobile data and confidence with typing. This service does not. It is a phone number. You dial, ask a question out loud, and an AI voice assistant answers. That design is why it matters most for the small farmers who never installed an app.

A woman in rural Tamil Nadu on a mobile phone. Photo: Ammalu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

What Bharat-VISTAAR is

Announced in the 2026-27 Union Budget and launched in Jaipur on 17 February 2026, the platform is described in the government's launch release as "a single digital gateway for farmers." It joins information that used to sit in separate places: weather from IMD, mandi prices from AgMarkNet, pest and disease alerts from the National Pest Surveillance System, plus soil health, crop and livestock advice, scheme details, your benefit status and complaint tracking.

How to use Bharat-VISTAAR

There are four ways in, per the launch release:

1. Call 155261. It works from simple feature phones. The voice assistant, Bharati, answers in Hindi or English.
2. Its own app on the Google Play Store.
3. The website and other apps. A web version is on the Ministry of Agriculture website and inside the PM KISAN and PM Fasal Bima Yojana apps.
4. The text chatbot, in English and Hindi.

Several guides describe the call as free. The release we read does not mention call charges, so check with your operator the first time.

What to ask Bharati

• "What will the weather be in my district this week?"
• "What is today's price of soybean in Indore mandi?"
• "Is there a pest alert for cotton near me?"
• "Why has my PM-KISAN instalment not come?"

Short, specific questions get better answers. Say your district and crop.

Which schemes it covers

At launch it integrated ten central schemes: PM-KISAN, the crop insurance scheme PMFBY, Soil Health Card, the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme, the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation, Per Drop More Crop, PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, PM-AASHA, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and the Kisan Credit Card.

Paddy fields beside a village home. Photo: Omar AV, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Languages now, and what was promised

Phase one launched in Hindi and English. Three states connected their own AI assistants on day one: Vasudha in Marathi for Maharashtra, AmulAI's Sarlaben in Gujarati, and the Bihar Krishi App in Hindi.

The launch release set a timetable after that:

When	Promised
By May 2026	All central schemes, with eligibility checks, applications, status and complaints
Within 3 months	Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Kannada, plus related state schemes
Within 6 months	11 languages in total

We could not confirm from an official source whether these later phases have arrived, so try your language when you call. The policy institute IMPRI has also noted that no public data on call volumes or how fast queries are resolved has been released, so there is no independent measure yet of how well it works.

Bharat-VISTAAR or Kisan e-Mitra?

They overlap. Kisan e-Mitra is the older chatbot inside the PM-KISAN app, covering PM-KISAN, the Kisan Credit Card and crop insurance in 11 languages. The newer service is broader, with weather, prices and pest alerts, and works on a basic phone. If you have a smartphone and a scheme question in a regional language, Kisan e-Mitra may serve you better today; for everything else, start with 155261. For open-ended farming questions in Telugu, Kannada or Marathi, the free FarmerChat app is another option.

For pest photos, the government's NPSS app goes deeper than a phone call; our guide to plant disease identification apps explains it. The full picture is in our overview of AI in agriculture in India and our ranking of AI tools for agriculture.

DD Kisan explains the platform in Hindi on YouTube.

FAQ

What is the Bharat-VISTAAR helpline number?

155261. You can call it from a basic feature phone and speak to the AI assistant, Bharati, in Hindi or English.

What is Bharat-VISTAAR?

The Ministry of Agriculture's AI advisory platform for farmers, launched on 17 February 2026. It gives weather, mandi prices, pest alerts, crop advice and information on ten central schemes by phone, app, website and chatbot.

Is Bharat-VISTAAR free?

It is a free government service. Several guides say calls to 155261 are free, but the launch release does not state call charges, so confirm with your mobile operator.

Which languages does Bharat-VISTAAR support?

It launched in Hindi and English, with Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi assistants in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar. The government promised 11 languages within six months of launch; check by calling.

Is there a Bharat-VISTAAR app?

Yes. The launch release lists its own app on the Google Play Store, plus access inside the PM KISAN and PM Fasal Bima Yojana apps.