Government is in the process of finalising ‘India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)’ which will lay down a framework for Agristack

The Department has commenced the work for creating Agristack in the country. In order to create Agristack, the department is in the process of finalising “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” which will lay down a framework for Agristack. Accordingly, a Task Force has been constituted and in furtherance, a Concept Paper on IDEA has already been floated for comments from the general public not only through department’s website but also through emails especially to subject matter specialists, Agro-Industry, Farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The IDEA would help in laying down the architecture for the Agri-stack in the country and that would serve as a foundation to build innovative agri-focused solutions leveraging emerging technologies to contribute effectively in creating a better Ecosystem for Agriculture in India. This Ecosystem shall help the Government in effective planning towards increasing the income of farmers in particular and improving the efficiency of the Agriculture sector as a whole. As a first step in this direction Government has already initiated building federated farmers’ database that would serve as the core of the envisaged Agristack.

No private sector companies are involved as far as building of the Agristack is concerned. However, leading Technology/Agri-tech/StartUp companies were identified and invited to collaborate with the Government of India to develop Proof of Concepts (PoC) based on small portions of data from the federated Farmers’ database for certain identified areas (Districts/Village). A public call through the Department’s website has been placed inviting proposals for PoCs. MoUs purely on pro bono basis with selected companies are being signed, for a period of one year to develop PoCs. The PoCs will help in understanding solutions that can be built using available data and some of them, if found beneficial to the farmers will be scaled up at National level.

Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has signed an MoU with Esri India Technologies Private Limited for working on a Proof of Concept (PoC) in select Districts/Villages to develop a model for an Agriculture Geo-Hub with an objective to establish a framework to collect and integrate available geo-spatial information with other associated information, perform spatial analytics, share results & data and deploy dynamic Apps which would support estimates for policy planning, monitoring requirements and ease in decision making.

This information was given by Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Government has taken several measures to make small holdings more viable

As per the results of Agriculture Census 2015-16, State/UT-wise number and percentage of marginal & small operational holders and marginal female operational holders in the country is given at Annexure.

Government has taken several measures to make small holdings more viable. These include adoption of modern technologies and practices like multiple cropping, intercropping and integrated farming systems. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is conducting research programme to develop location specific varieties and technologies for enhancing the production and productivity of farm holdings. Support is also provided to farmers (including small and marginal farmers) through initiatives and programmes of the Government like interest subvention scheme, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Neem coated Urea, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchay Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) etc.

As per the Demand Supply projection made by the NITI Aayog for 2033, the balance sheet is projected to be quite affirmative for the foodgrains as a whole and further increase in production of foodgrains is suggested to be achieved mainly through increase in productivity of crops. For this, the Government of India is implementing several Crop Development Schemes/Programmes such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Soil Health Card etc. Also, assistance is being provided for various interventions like different types of demonstrations on latest crops production technologies, promotion of newly released High Yielding Varieties (HYVs)/Hybrids, climate resilient varieties/stress tolerant/bio-fortified varieties, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) & Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, water conservation devices, improved farm implements/tools and capacity building of farmers etc., through State Governments.

To achieve further growth in agricultural area under irrigation and to meet the objectives of National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Government is implementing Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana(PMKSY) since 2015-16 with the motto of “Har Khet Ko Pani” for providing end to end solutions in irrigation supply chain viz, water resources, distribution network and farm level applications. This scheme is being implemented through its four components viz, Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), PMKSY-Har Khet Ko Pani, PMKSY-Watershed, PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop. The PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop component of the scheme focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation viz., Drip and Sprinkler irrigation systems. Besides promoting Micro Irrigation, this component also supports micro level water storage or water conservation/management activities to supplement source creation for Micro Irrigation.Under this component,about 57.31 lakh ha. area has been brought under the coverage of micro irrigation during the period 2015-16 to 2020-21.

Annexure

State/UT-wise Number and Percentage of Marginal & Small Operational Holders and Female Marginal Operational Holders as per Agriculture Census 2015-16