The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Digital Agriculture Mission with a budget of Rs 2,817 crore, including a central share of Rs 1,940 crore.
The Mission is designed as a comprehensive umbrella scheme to support various digital agriculture initiatives. These include creating Digital Public Infrastructure, implementing the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and advancing other IT projects involving central and state governments, as well as academic and research institutions.
The government initially announced plans for a Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture in the Union Budget 2023-24. The Budget 2024-25 further includes augmentations to this initiative.
The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture will offer detailed data on farmers, including authenticated demographic information, land holdings, and crops sown. This infrastructure will cover cultivators and tenant farmers, aligned with state government policies.
The DPI aims to connect with relevant state and central government digital infrastructures, providing comprehensive data on livestock, fisheries, soil health, and more. This integration will facilitate innovative, farmer-centric digital services, supporting the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.
The Mission will establish three main DPIs: AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System, and Soil Profile Mapping.
AgriStack will serve as a farmer-centric DPI, enhancing service delivery and scheme implementation. It will feature foundational registries like the Farmers’ Registry, Geo-referenced village maps, and the Crop Sown Registry. Farmers will receive a digital identity, ‘Farmer ID’, akin to Aadhaar, linking them to various records including land, livestock, and crops. Mobile-based ground surveys will record crops each season.
The Krishi Decision Support System will create a unified geospatial system integrating data on crops, soil, weather, and water resources.
The Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES) will provide yield estimates through scientifically designed crop-cutting experiments, improving accuracy in agricultural production estimates.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is being signed between the Centre and state governments to develop and implement this infrastructure. To date, 19 states have signed MoUs with the Ministry of Agriculture.
(With ANI Inputs)
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