DIGITAL AGRICULTURE MISSION: ”DIGITAL REVOLUTION OF FARMING SECTOR IN INDIA”

Syllabus:

GS-3:

Government Schemes and policies ,Use of E- technology in benefit of farmers

Focus:

This new programme named Digital Agriculture Mission has been cleared recently by the Union Cabinet having a share of 2,817 crore rupees. Its main objective is to build a complete digital public platform in the agricultural sector that helps to increase access to data, services, and resources for farmers in India.

DIGITAL AGRICULTURE MISSION: DIGITAL REVOLUTION OF FARMING SECTOR IN INDIA - UPSCsource:slideshare

Introduction to the Digital Agriculture Mission:

  • Cabinet Approval: It is worth to note that the Union Cabinet cleared the Digital Agriculture Mission that has a whopping budget of Rs 2,817 crore. The mission implies creating DPI in the agriculture sector, similar to creation of e-governance in other spheres in India.
  • Core Objective: The mission is to foster a single digital one-stop solution for farmlands, crops and yields where all relevant information about various services would be available with the farmers.
  • Implementation Timeline: The mission is planned to be carried out in the course of the two financial years with the goal to be achieved by the 2025-26 Originally, this mission was scheduled for the period of 2021-2022 The actual start of the mission was to take place in the framework of the project NP-2022, however, due to the situation with COVID-19, the mission was postponed for an unknown period of time.

Understanding Digital Agriculture (DA):

What is Digital Agriculture?

DA refers to the incorporation of Information Technology including ICT as well as other smart technologies as well as analytical tools into the farming market with a goal of improving the yields as well as dealing with issues affecting farmers. It plays an imperative role in enhancing the process of farming and managing the resources properly in the farms.

Importance of Digital Agriculture

  • Digital agriculture has various benefits as indicated through the following.
  • The information it gives to farmers can increase crop yields by a very big margin as it is accurate.
  • DA also assists in market transactions linking producers notably the farmers to the markets ,thus better prices and fewer middlemen. Besides, it supports the capacity for engaging in agriculture practices that are more climate change resilient in nature.

Examples of Digital Agriculture Technologies:

  • Smart Farming Techniques: Such are sensors and IoT applied to constant tracking of crops, soil and environment status.
  • Precision Agriculture: This entails making decisions based on the use of data especially in farming including; GPS and GIS technologies in the field level decisions regarding crop farming.
  • Robotics and Drones: Machines such as Robots and drones are applied in planting, spraying of pesticides and pest and disease monitoring within the crops which help avoid a lot of human interference.

Benefits of Digital Agriculture in India:

  • Industrial Agriculture would be beneficial to India in the following ways:
  • It would improve the yields in agriculture, consequently improve the income of the farmers and thus improve the overall growth of the economy of India.
  • It also makes it easier for farmers to adopt new technologies and obtain information regarding farming and markets thus enhancing better financial returns.
About “Digital Agriculture Mission  (2021-26):

  • Digital Agri Mission: Promotes use of digital technologies like AI, blockchain, remote sensing, robots, and drones in agriculture.
  • Timeline: Rolled out over the next two years (until 2025-26).
  • Farmers Registry: Unique ID for each farmer, facilitating access to government schemes and financial services.
  • Crop Sown Registry: Records crops sown by farmers to aid in planning and production estimation.
  • IDEA (Agristack): Framework for innovative agri-focused digital solutions.
  • Unified Farmers Service Interface (UFSI): Centralised platform for weather, market prices, and agro-advisory services.
  • Funding to States (NeGPA): Support for projects using AI, blockchain, IoT, and robotics.
  • MNCFC Revamp: Improved crop forecasting with technology.
  • Soil Mapping: Digital tools for assessing soil health and fertility.
  • Pilot Projects: Implemented in 6 districts: Farrukhabad (UP), Beed (Maharashtra), Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab), and Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu).

Other key initiatives by the Government:

  • e-NAM (National Agriculture Market): An online platform for trading agricultural commodities, enabling better price discovery and smooth marketing for farmers, traders, and buyers.
  • BharatNet: A government initiative to establish the National Optical Fibre Network, aiming to connect 250,000 gram panchayats and improve digital communication across India.
  • National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology: Strengthens agricultural extension through ICT, modern technology adoption, and capacity building to deliver better agronomic practices to farmers.
  • AgriMarket App: A mobile app providing farmers with real-time crop prices within a 50km radius to prevent distress sales.
  • Bharat Nirman: A rural infrastructure program focused on increasing telecommunication facilities by 40%, boosting rural tele-density.
  • e-Governance Initiatives: Includes Farmer Portal, Kisan Call Centre, and mKisan Portal to assist farmers with informed decisions and standardised soil health card software for integrated nutrient management in eight states.

Components of the Digital Agriculture Mission:

  • AgriStack: But the DPI envisioned for farmers is constructed in a similar manner comprising three primary registries or databases.
    • Farmers’ Registry: Grants farmers a unique identification number also known and referred to as ‘Farmer Id’ that is attached to the land information crops details as well as the benefits accrued.
    • Crop Sown Registry: Captures data of crops grown through farmers by doing mobile based Digital Crop Surveys.
    • Geo-Referenced Village Maps: Connects geographic information on the record with the location on the land which helps to provide the accurate data of the land.
  • Krishi Decision Support System (DSS): A single integrated geo database on crops, soil weather and Water that will enable crop mapping, monitoring on the effects of drought/floods and yield estimation.
  • Soil Profile Maps: Maps at a scale of 1:10, 000 of 142 million hectares of agricultural lands with 29 million hectares accomplished. Such maps retain specific data of soil profiling that are needed in formulation as well as execution of agricultural plans and management systems.

Funding and State Participation:

  • Budget Allocation: Out of the total Rs 2817 crore, Centre will contribute Rs 1940 crore, rest amount will be contribution form states/UTs.
  • State Involvement: The mission is being implemented with states to make it a necessary agenda for all the states. As of now, 19 states have deposited MoU’s to be part of the DPI for agriculture programme.
  • Financial Incentives: Another Rs 5,000 Cr has been provided to the states for establishment of Farmers’ Registry under ‘Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for year 2024-25.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits:

  • Data Consolidation: This will be a mission to combine all the data about farmers, pieces of land, and records of produced crops in one system, and there will be no need in creating numerous databases and sites for this purpose.
  • Efficiency in Service Delivery: Being one farmer and one account, farmers will be able to avail schemes, loans and benefits from the government without much paperwork and multiple visits to the service provider agencies.
  • Support for Decision-Making: The Krishi DSS and Soil Profile maps will offer valuable information for decision making processes in agriculture for instance on which crop to grow or feed them when to irrigate and even on which fertiliser to use in order to optimise resource use and hence the production.

Challenges and Considerations:

  • Data Accuracy: Although the mission is to enhance the precision of agriculture data, there continue to be questions on data inputs and difference in crop estimation.
  • Implementation Across States: Acepaper processed successful completion of the mission fully accountable for the coalition between the Centre and states.
  • A major consideration in the success of this mission will therefore involve harmonisation across the board, while at the same time seeking to deal with issues of diversity , which may arise due to some peculiar characteristics of certain states.
  • Long-Term Impact: The mission has the ability of transforming the agricultural sector by increasing the access of farmers to information and services.
  • Nevertheless, this long-term view is contingent with frequent upgrade of the digital platform, education/training of the farmers and sustained support from the government.

Conclusion:

The Digital Agriculture Mission is one of the novel initiatives for the journey of change in agriculture in India. This way, through building a strong DPI, it is proposed to provide farmers with improved access to data, services and resources which is supposed to enhance the yield of the agriculture output.

Source: The Indian Express

Mains Practice Question:

Examine the likely effect on the sector brought by the Digital Agriculture Mission. It has to be able to deal with existing problems of data handling, resource dispatching and serving farmers.

Associated Article:

https://universalinstitutions.com/e-technology-in-aid-of-farmers/