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Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Driven Decision Support Systems for Natural Farming: Opportunities and Challenges for Smallholders in Odisha

Natural farming can help small farms grow in a way that's good for the environment and can handle climate change. It makes soil healthier, protects different kinds of plants and animals, cuts down on the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and helps farms bounce back from bad weather. But it needs a lot of knowledge and has to be adapted to each specific farm, meaning farmers need to make choices all the time based on their situation. It looks into how Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could help small farmers in Odisha, India, practice natural farming. These tools would combine machine learning, satellite imagery, mapping technology, computer vision, and language processing with the local knowledge farmers already have about their land and farming. It points out how AI could help farmers adapt to local climate changes, choose a better mix of crops and farming methods that support biodiversity, spot pests and diseases early using image technology, make better decisions about using natural pesticides and fertilizers, and reach more farmers with advice through platforms that work in different languages and can be used with voice commands. These ideas are especially important for Odisha, given its varied farming conditions and its vulnerability to storms, droughts, unpredictable rain, pest outbreaks, and unstable markets. However, using AI effectively comes with big challenges. These include a lack of organized data from rural areas, poor digital infrastructure and internet access, low digital skills, unfair access to technology, worries about how AI makes decisions and whether to trust it, and the need to include and protect farmers' traditional knowledge. Therefore, it stresses that AI should be used to help farmers make decisions, not to replace their experience, judgment, and traditional ways of farming. To create digital tools that are easy to use, understandable, available in multiple languages, and fit for local needs, we need a cooperative and ethical approach involving farmers, researchers, agricultural advisors, tech developers, and government officials. This kind of effort can improve how farmers make decisions, make farms more resilient to climate change, use resources more efficiently, and help transform small-scale natural farming in Odisha into a more sustainable system.