Union Cabinet nods for Digital Agriculture Mission, grants Rs 2,817 crore

The Digital Agriculture Mission has been approved by the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with an outlay of Rs 2,817 crore, including the central share of Rs 1,940 crore.

Under this Mission digital agriculture initiatives will be encouraged 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.

In order to transform the agriculture sector, in the Union Budget 2023-24 the government announced the building of Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture. Further, in the Budget 2024-25, the augmentation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiative for the agricultural sector has also been announced.

The objective behind the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture is 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.

Agristack, Krishi Decision Support System, and Soil Profile Mapping are the three DPIs that will be built under the Mission.    

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.

The Krishi Decision Support System will create a comprehensive geospatial system to unify remote sensing-based information on Crops, Soil, Weather, 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.