Why in the news?
The Union Cabinet has approved the Digital Agriculture Mission with a budget of Rs 2,817 crore to develop Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the agriculture sector.
What’s in today’s article?
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
- Digital Public Infrastructure in the agriculture sector – Digital Agriculture Mission
- Three pillars of Mission
- Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES)
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
About
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) encompasses core digital systems that facilitate the provision of key public services and promote inclusive economic development.
- These infrastructures comprise various technologies, platforms, and services that aid government operations, financial transactions, and the delivery of social services.
- DPI is built to be interoperable, scalable, and user-friendly, allowing efficient interaction between citizens, businesses, and the government.
- In India, prominent examples of DPI include the Aadhaar system for unique identity verification, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for smooth financial transactions, and the CoWIN platform for overseeing COVID-19 vaccination management.
Benefits
- Inclusivity and Accessibility: With the Aadhaar system, more than 1.3 billion Indians have been provided with a unique identity, making it easier to access various government services and benefits.
- Economic Growth: UPI has dramatically changed the landscape of financial transactions in India, allowing individuals and small businesses to easily participate in digital payments.
- Efficiency and Transparency: The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system in India has greatly improved the effectiveness of welfare programs by ensuring that subsidies are directly transferred to the rightful beneficiaries, thereby reducing leakages.
Challenges
- Digital Divide: India continues to face a significant digital divide, with a large portion of the population without access to the internet or adequate digital skills.
- Privacy and Data Security: The Aadhaar system, despite its success, has encountered legal scrutiny and criticism over issues related to data privacy.
Interoperability and Scalability: Integrating Aadhaar and UPI with diverse state and national services requires advanced technical solutions to ensure seamless operation.
Digital Public Infrastructure in the Agriculture Sector – Digital Agriculture Mission
About
- The Digital Agriculture Mission seeks to establish a robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) within the agriculture sector, akin to other successful e-governance initiatives in India, such as Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI, and electronic health records.
- The mission emphasizes three key DPI elements: AgriStack, the Krishi Decision Support System (DSS), and Soil Profile Maps.
The mission also incorporates the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES).
- DGCES aims to use technology to generate precise estimates of agricultural output, supporting a more knowledgeable and resilient agricultural sector.
Funding for Mission:
- The Digital Agriculture Mission is allocated a budget of Rs 2,817 crore, with Rs 1,940 crore provided by the Centre and the remaining amount funded by states and Union Territories.
Announcement and Coverage:
- As part of the Agriculture Ministry’s 100-day initiatives under the newly established government, the Mission is set to be implemented across the country by 2025-26.
- Originally scheduled to launch in 2021-22, the Mission faced delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Announced in the Union Budgets of 2023-24 and 2024-25, the Mission aims to encompass farmers and their lands within a three-year timeframe.
- In 2024, a digital crop survey for the Kharif season will be conducted in 400 districts, integrating information of 6 crore farmers and their lands into registries.
Three Pillars of Mission
AgriStack:
- The core IT infrastructure for AgriStack is one of the three Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) being developed under the Mission.
- AgriStack includes three key agri-sector registries or databases:
Farmers’ Registry:
- Farmers will receive a digital identity called ‘Farmer ID,’ similar to Aadhaar.
- This ID will be dynamically linked to various records, such as land ownership, livestock, crop details, demographic data, family information, and benefits or schemes availed.
- The government aims to create digital identities for 11 crore farmers, targeting 6 crore in 2024-25, 3 crore in 2025-26, and the remaining 2 crore in 2026-27.
- This Registry will enable farmers to digitally verify their identities and access services and benefits, reducing the need for paperwork and in-person visits to offices.
Crop Sown Registry:
- This registry will document details of the crops sown by farmers, utilizing data collected from Digital Crop Surveys, which are ground surveys conducted each crop season using mobile technology.
- The government intends to implement the Digital Crop Survey across the country over the next two years, starting with 400 districts in the 2024-25 financial year and extending to the remaining districts in 2025-26.
- Geo-referenced Village Maps
The maps will associate land records with their exact physical locations using geographic data.
Krishi DSS
- The Krishi Decision Support System is a newly launched geospatial platform that integrates remote sensing data related to crops, soil, weather, and water resources.
- It aids in generating crop maps, identifying crop planting patterns, tracking droughts and floods, and estimating yields using advanced technologies and models.
- Additionally, this system will be vital in processing and settling crop insurance claims for farmers.
Soil Profile Maps
- As part of the Mission, detailed Soil Profile Maps at a 1:10,000 scale are planned for around 142 million hectares of agricultural land.
- An extensive soil profile database has already been completed for roughly 29 million hectares.
Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES)
- This will greatly enhance the existing crop yield estimation system, making the data more robust and reliable.
- Consequently, this will help address concerns about the accuracy of India’s agricultural production estimates.
- By integrating digitally captured data on crop-sown areas with yield data from the DGCES and remote sensing technologies, the system will improve the reliability of crop production estimates.
- These enhanced data sets will assist government agencies in streamlining schemes such as paperless MSP-based procurement, crop insurance, and crop loans linked to credit cards, making them more efficient and transparent.
- Moreover, the data will facilitate crop diversification, help assess irrigation needs based on crop type and season, and promote the balanced use of fertilizers.
The DGCES will provide yield estimates grounded in scientific methods, ensuring more accurate assessments of agricultural production.
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