Cabinet Approves Digital Agri Mission With Rs 2,817 Cr Outlay

Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Digital Agriculture Mission on Monday, with an outlay of Rs 2,817 crore, including the central share of Rs 1,940 crore. The Mission is conceived as an umbrella scheme to support digital agriculture initiatives, such as creating Digital Public Infrastructure, implementing the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and taking up other IT initiatives by the central government, state governments, and academic and research institutions.

For a transformation of the agriculture sector, the government introduced the building of Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture in the Union Budget 2023-24. Further, in the Budget 2024-25, the augmentation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiative for the agricultural sector has also been notified.

The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture aims to provide comprehensive and useful data on farmers comprising of authenticated demographic details, land holdings, and crops sown. It will include cultivators and tenant farmers, as per the policy of the respective state government.

"It would also connect to relevant Digital Public Infrastructure of the State Governments and Ministries of the Government of India to use data of farmers on livestock, fisheries, soil health, other vocations, family details, and schemes and benefits availed, leading to innovative farmer-centric digital services in the agriculture sector. Aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, the DPI for Agriculture forms the core of the Digital Agriculture Mission," an official statement from the government said.

The three DPIs to be built under the mission are Agristack, Krishi Decision Support System, and Soil Profile Mapping. AgriStack is a farmer-centric DPI that will enable efficient, easier, and faster services and scheme delivery to farmers. It consists of three foundational registries or databases in the agriculture sector, i.e., the Farmers' Registry, Geo-referenced village maps, and the Crop Sown Registry, all created and maintained by the State Governments/ Union Territories.

Under AgriStack, farmers will be given a digital identity (Farmer ID) similar to Aadhaar, which will be a trusted 'Kisan ki Pehchaan'. This 'Farmer ID' will be linked dynamically to the State's land records, livestock ownership, crops sown, demographic details, family details, schemes and benefits availed. Crops sown by farmers will be recorded through mobile-based ground surveys - digital crop survey to be conducted in each season.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is being signed between the Centre and state governments to create and implement the DPI for agriculture. So far, 19 states have signed MoUs with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Krishi Decision Support System will create a comprehensive geospatial system to unify remote sensing-based information on Crops, Soil, weather and water resources. The Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES) will provide yield estimates based on scientifically designed crop-cutting experiments. This initiative will prove very useful in making accurate estimates of agricultural production. (ANI)