Today, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Digital Agriculture Mission, allocating a total of Rs. 2817 Crore, with the central government contributing Rs. 1940 Crore. This ambitious mission aims to revolutionize the agriculture sector by incorporating digital technologies, making farming more efficient, transparent, and beneficial for farmers across India.
Transforming Agriculture through Digital Public Infrastructure
The Digital Agriculture Mission is designed as an umbrella scheme to support various digital initiatives in agriculture. These include the creation of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture, implementing the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), and launching other IT initiatives by both Central and State Governments, as well as academic and research institutions. The agriculture sector is now set to benefit from this digital wave, with the government announcing the development of DPI for agriculture in the Union Budget 2023-24 and further enhancing this initiative in the Budget 2024-25.
Key Components of the Digital Agriculture Mission
The Digital Agriculture Mission focuses on three major Digital Public Infrastructures: Agristack, Krishi Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS), and Soil Profile Mapping. These components aim to provide comprehensive data on farmers, including demographic details, land holdings, and crop information, thereby enabling more efficient and targeted delivery of services and schemes.
- Agristack: Empowering Farmers with Digital Identity
Agristack is a farmer-centric DPI that will provide farmers with a unique digital identity, similar to Aadhaar, called the “Farmer ID” or “Kisan ki Pehchaan.” This ID will be linked to various records such as land ownership, crops grown, livestock details, and more. The initiative will also include a digital crop survey, conducted through mobile-based ground surveys each season, to accurately record the crops sown by farmers.
The creation of Farmer IDs has already been piloted in six districts across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu. The mission targets to create digital identities for 11 crore farmers by 2027, with six crore to be covered in the financial year 2024-25 alone.
- Krishi Decision Support System: Unifying Agricultural Data
The Krishi Decision Support System will create a comprehensive geospatial system that integrates information on crops, soil, weather, and water resources. This system will support crop mapping, drought and flood monitoring, and yield assessment, providing valuable insights for both farmers and policymakers.
- Soil Profile Mapping: Enhancing Soil Health
Under the Digital Agriculture Mission, detailed soil profile maps on a 1:10,000 scale will be created for approximately 142 million hectares of agricultural land in India. A detailed soil profile inventory for about 29 million hectares has already been completed, providing essential data for better soil management and crop planning.
- Boosting Employment and Efficiency in Agriculture
The Digital Agriculture Mission is expected to have a significant impact on employment in the agriculture sector. The mission’s activities, such as digital crop surveys and data collection for remote sensing, are anticipated to create job opportunities for around 2.5 lakh trained local youth and Krishi Sakhis.
A Step Towards Viksit Bharat@2047
Aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, the Digital Agriculture Mission represents a significant step towards modernizing India’s agriculture sector. By building a robust digital infrastructure, the mission will help farmers improve their productivity, access timely and accurate information, and ultimately enhance their livelihoods.
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