Meeting of Global Initiative on AI for Agri-Food Systems held at IMC 2026

Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, Government of India hosted the Second meeting of the UN Global Initiative on AI for Agri-Food Systems (GI-AI4FS) alongside India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026.

The meeting was jointly hosted with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. The GI-AI4FS is a UN Global Initiative, coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in close collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP).

The inaugural session commenced with opening remarks by Dr. Sebastian Bosse, Chair of GI-AI4FS, followed by keynote addresses by Krishnan Pallassana, Senior Specialist – Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), ITU; Dr. A. K. Nayak, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; Syed Tausif Abbas, Senior Deputy Director General & Head, TEC, DoT, India.

This meeting was preceded by a 2-day International Hackathon on ‘AI for Agri-Food Systems’, held on 8–9 October 2026, also jointly hosted by TEC, DoT and ICAR at the ICAR campus, New Delhi. The hackathon provided a collaborative platform for students, researchers, developers and innovators to develop practical technology solutions addressing real-world challenges in agriculture and food systems.(UPDATED ON 10TH OCT 2026)