A Budget of INR 2817 Crore Has Been Approved for the Digital Agriculture Mission by the Cabinet

Nitin Konde, Apoorva Bajj

Sep 3, 2024 — 3 min read

A Budget of INR 2817 Crore Has Been Approved for the Digital Agriculture Mission by the Cabinet

The Digital Agriculture Mission, with a budget of INR 2817 crore (including the central share of INR 1940 crore), was granted authorization on 2 September 2024 by the Union Cabinet Committee, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Various digital agriculture initiatives, including the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), Digital Public Infrastructure, and other IT projects undertaken by the Central Government, State Governments, and Academic and Research Institutions, are intended to be supported by the Mission.

With the advent of digital identities and the development of secure payment and transaction methods, India's government and service delivery have been profoundly impacted by the recent digital revolution. As a result, India is now at the forefront of citizen-centric digital solutions, with a flourishing digital ecosystem in the financial, healthcare, educational, and retail sectors.

Why the Government Is Emphasizing Connecting Farmers Digitally?

In the Union Budget 2023-24, the government announced plans to construct digital public infrastructure specifically for agriculture, to undergo a comparable change in the sector. Also stated in the 2024–25 budget is a plan to boost the agricultural sector's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Data on farmers, including verified demographic information, land ownership, and harvested crops, will be made available through the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Agriculture. Cultivators and tenant farmers shall be included according to the policy of the State Government.

To create innovative digital services focused on farmers, it would link up with the appropriate state and federal government digital infrastructure in India. This would allow it to access data on farmers' livestock, fisheries, soil health, other occupations, family information, and the programs and benefits they have used. At its heart, the Digital Agriculture Mission is the DPI for Agriculture, which is in line with Viksit Bharat@2047.

The Three DPIs to Be Built Under the Mission

Soil Profile Mapping, Krishi Decision Support System, and Agristack are the three DPIs that will be developed as part of the Mission. Additionally, these DPIs will facilitate the development of digital services focused on farmers and ensure that the agriculture industry has access to accurate and up-to-date information.

With AgriStack, a farmer-centric DPI, services, and schemes can be delivered to farmers more efficiently, easily, and faster. It is a joint effort by federal and state entities, and its construction is taking place in a federated form. The State Governments/Union Territories established and maintained three essential databases or registries in the agricultural sector: the Crop Sown Registry, geo-referenced village maps, and the Farmers' Registry.

As a reliable "Kisan ki Pehchaan," AgriStack would provide farmers with a digital identification (Farmer ID) that is analogous to Aadhaar. A farmer's "Farmer ID" will be dynamically associated with their land records, animal records, planted crops, family data, demographic information, and any programs or perks they have used. Digital Crop Surveys, which are mobile-based ground surveys, will be carried out by farmers every season to document the crops that are sowed.

The Central government and individual states are finalizing the details of the DPI for Agriculture by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The Indian government's Ministry of Agriculture has inked memorandums of understanding with nineteen states thus far.