The Rs 2,800-Crore Digital Agriculture Mission: A New Era for Indian Farming

Introduction

• The Indian agriculture is set to see a major overhauling soon with the announced Rs 2,800 crore Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM).
• This massive plan has been sanctioned by the Union Cabinet on the September 2, 2024 to establish a comprehensive and future ready DPI that will assimilate data and information in agricultural ecosystem.
• The mission is anticipated to yield major positive impacts towards individual farmers, the farming fraternity as well as the broad agricultural sector.

What is the content of Digital Agriculture Mission?

•  The Digital Agriculture Mission has been sought to work in similar fashion as the other digital governance platforms working in India like Aadhaar, Digi Locker and UPI.
• These have brought dramatic changes in their respective fields due to the cutting of time and paperwork observation of services to the general public.
• Similar to what the DAM proposed to accomplish in Agriculture, there is a need to establish a solidity of digital ecosystem that will cater the different tasks that involves Agriculture.

The mission is centred around three major components:

•  AgriStack
• Krishi Decision Support System (DSS)
•  Soil Profile Maps

• These components are all intended to offer certain solutions, which should enable the farmers to handle different related services in a far better and more practical way.

 Funding and Implementation

•  The Digital Agriculture Mission was launched with a financial support of Rs 2,817 crore which includes Central Government’s contribution of Rs 1,940 crore and the rest from the states and Union Territories (UTs).
• The mission is one of the activities that the Ministry of Agriculture has set out to achieving in the first 100 days of Mod ‗s third term in office and will receive full implementation across the country by 2025-26.
• It was planned for launch in 2021-22 financial year however, due to covid-19, this mission was cancelled and now it is going to launch soon.
• But the government has recently come forward to support the project again by announcing making Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture in the Union Budget 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• In her recent Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed on the DPI in agriculture mainly for bringing about the digital crop survey of Kharif crops, in 400 districts.

The Three Pillars of the Digital Agriculture Mission

•  The Digital Agriculture Mission consists of three pillars each of which are essential for forming the fabric of an integrated digital architecture for agriculture in India.

 AgriStack

•  AgriStack is the cornerstone of the Digital Agriculture Mission, providing a farmer-centric digital infrastructure that includes three foundational registries or databases:
• Farmers’ Registry:
  • This registry will act in a similar manner as ‘Aadhaar’ and by being dynamically linked to various records like land, livestock, crop sown, demographic details, family details, scheme or benefits taken by the farmers.
  • Like generating farmers’ ID, pilot studies have been carried out in six districts in India. The government’s plan is to provide digital IDs for 11 crore farmers out of which 6 crore are proposed to be achieved in the 2024-25 FY.
• Crop Sown Registry:
  • This registry shall contain details of crops grown by farmers and this will be captured through digital crop surveys that will be done via mobile phones during every cropping season.
  • A pilot study was conducted in 11 states during the 2023-24, the government proposes to extend the Digital Crop Survey to the entire country in the next two years and cover 400 districts in 2024-25 and the balance districts in 2025-26.
• Geo-referenced Village Maps:
  • These maps will relate geographical location of the records with the actual physical locations, and give a semblance of a computer-generated map of the agricultural lands.
• With the formation of AgriStack, lot of documentation required from farmer side will be minimized and also, it will become easy for the farmer to avail different services and facilities.
• Through linking their identifications to multiple records, the farmers will be in a position to authenticate their selves online hence no need to make constant running to government offices.

Krishi Decision Support System (DSS)

• The Krishi DSS is a holistically designed geospatial system which integrates information derived from remote sensing about crops, soil, weather and water data.
• This system will be extensively useful in production of crop maps, detecting drought and flood conditions and evaluating yields for the crop insurance purposes.
• To be specific, through the Krishi DSS farmers will receive the right and timely information on the choice of crops, use of water and the management of resources.

Soil Profile Maps

• Soil health is one of the significant concerns in agricultural production, and under the Digital Agriculture Mission, we are planning to prepare the Soil Profile Maps on the scale of 1: 10,000 for about 142 million hectare of the agricultural area.
• Till the present, there are already more or less 29 million hectares of soil profile inventory.
• These maps will assist in the provision of information on soil characteristics and this will assist the farmers in the following ways; deciding on the crop to grow, method of fertilizer application and use of irrigation.

Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES)

• The threefold verticals apart from the Digital Agriculture Mission of the country are the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES).
• This survey would go a long way in enhancing the quality of crop yield estimates aiming at allaying the doubts that have been raised over the credibility of the agricultural production numbers coming out of India.
• This will be done using data from the Crop Sown Registry, DGCES and remote sensing to improve accuracy of crop production estimation by the mission.
• Improved data will allow the government agencies to develop and deliver improved schemes and support services including the paperless MSP based procurement system, crop insurance, credit card based crop loans and others.
• The data will also contribute to the creation of balance fertilizer use as well as on crop diversification and irrigation depending on the type of crop and time of the year.

Impact on Farmers and the Agricultural Sector

• It has been noted that Digital Agriculture Mission will revolutionize the agricultural system of India in an individual farmer’s benefit and for the farming community in general. Some of the key benefits include:Some of the key benefits include:
• Increased Efficiency: The use of the applications will also reduce the time taken in performing different agricultural activities for instance crop surveys registration of title to land and the distribution of benefits.
• Better Decision-Making: Availability of crop, soil, meteoric, and hydrological data shall assist the farmers in the efficient management of inputs and resources so that the yields will be improved.
• Improved Access to Services: It will help the farmers to connect with different documents and link them with their own Aadhaar card, so that they can avail themselves various government schemes, benefits or services without much of their efforts or physical visits to the government offices.
• Enhanced Transparency: The digital technology will help to open the entire process of agriculture, minimize instances of fraud and make sure that the benefits get in the right hands.
• Data-Driven Planning: Accurate statistical data into crop yields and status of the soil and other factors will help formulate better policies for the government that will improve the delivery of agricultural policies for farmers.

Conclusion

• The importance of the Rs 2,800-crore Digital Agriculture Mission cannot be ignored as it is a next level in the process of Indian agriculture’s transformation.
• The mission will build this strong Digital Public Infrastructure and thus equip the farmers with all the necessities as far as the digital environment is concerned.
• When implemented across the country the mission has the capacity to revolutionalize the agricultural sector and in the process uplift the lives of millions of farmers besides boosting the overall economic growth and development of the India economy.

FAQS

Q1: What is the Digital Agriculture Mission?
Ans: The Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM) is a government initiative aimed at creating robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the agriculture sector. It integrates data and information across the agricultural landscape to improve efficiency, transparency, and access to services for farmers.

Q2: What are the key components of the Digital Agriculture Mission?
Ans: The DAM consists of three main components: AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System (DSS), and Soil Profile Maps. Each component provides specific solutions to enhance agricultural productivity and decision-making.

Q3: How will the Digital Agriculture Mission benefit farmers?
Ans: The mission will streamline various agricultural processes, improve access to government schemes and services, enable better decision-making through accurate data, and increase transparency in the sector.

Q4: What is AgriStack?
Ans: AgriStack is a farmer-centric digital infrastructure that includes a Farmers’ Registry, Crop Sown Registry, and Geo-referenced Village Maps. It provides farmers with digital identities linked to multiple records, making it easier for them to access services and benefits.