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IIT Ropar Launches National Agri‑AI Hackathon HACK CORE 2026

The competition seeks practical, field‑ready AI tools for crop health, pest control, soil intelligence and biologicals adoption by pairing teams with industry mentors and cloud infrastructure.

Overview

  • IIT Ropar’s ANNAM. AI announced HACK CORE 2026 on Monday as a national hackathon run with Syngenta and Google to develop AI solutions for agriculture.
  • Registrations are open to students, researchers, developers and startups across India and will close on July 21, 2026.
  • The programme focuses on five tracks: crop health, pest management, soil intelligence, climate‑resilient farming and wider adoption of biological products.
  • Shortlisted teams will take part in a 36‑hour Build Sprint at IIT Ropar with mentorship from ANNAM. AI and Syngenta and access to Google Cloud infrastructure.
  • Prizes include a visit to Syngenta’s Atessa research centre in Italy and Google Cloud credits, which organisers say are intended to help teams move prototypes toward field testing and scale.