Lok Sabha Question No. 3043 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-08
Subject: Information Technology in Agriculture Sector
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Ganesan Selvam, DNV Senthilkumar. S., C.N. Annadurai, Manjulata Mandal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3043 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 8 th  AUGUST, 2023

## INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR

3043.  SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.: SHRI SELVAM G.: SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL: SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA: DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of level of development and implementation of Information Technology (IT) in the agriculture sector;
- (b) whether the Government has taken any measures to promote the use of IT tools and solutions to enhance agricultural practices and productivity, if so, the details and the outcomes thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has also assessed the impact of IT on the agriculture sector;
- (d) if so, whether the Government is planning to further advance the integration of IT in the agriculture sector;
- (e) whether the Government is also creating awareness among farmers about the use of this technology in the agriculture sector; and
- (f) if  so,  the  details  thereof  alongwith  the  steps  that  the  Government  is  taking  to ensure  that  farmers,  particularly  small-scale  farmers,  have  access  to  the  necessary resources,  training,  and  support  to  effectively  utilize  the  said  technology  in  their agricultural operations?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ षि एवं षकसान कल्याण मंत्री (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  to  (f):  Information  technologies  are  finding  increasing  use  in  the  agricultural  value system, and farmers are increasingly becoming more informed.  The Government has taken  various  measures  to  provide  access  to  technology  and  information  across  the country, through various Digital Initiatives, such as:

- i. National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A) wherein, funds are provided to the State(s)/UT(s) for project involving  use  of  modern technologies viz. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine  Learning (ML), Robotics, Drones, Data Analytics, Block Chain etc. After receiving proposals from the States, funds are released for development of various solutions.
- ii. The  Government  has  announced  for  development of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture as an open source, open standard and inter-operable  public  good  to  enable  inclusive  farmer  centric  solutions through  relevant information services for crop planning and  health, improved  access  to  farm  inputs,  credit  and  insurance,  help  for  crop estimation,  market  intelligence  etc.  In  this  regards,  following  action  has been taken so far:
3.  Architecture  of  three  core  registries  i.e.  Farmer  registry,  Geo referencing  of  village  map  registry,  crop  sown  registry  has  been finalized.
4.  To  generate  crop  sown  registry,  Digital  crop  survey  has  been launched on pilot basis in 12 states from Kharif 2023.
5.  An  MoU  has  been  signed  with  Pixxel  Space  India  Pvt.  Limitedto develop  use  cases  with  the  hyperspectral  data  of  Pixxel  for  crop identification and mapping, crop health monitoring and soil organic carbon estimation over selected regions on pilot basis.
- iii. Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is being implemented w.e.f April, 2014.The scheme aims at 'reaching the unreached' by bringing to  the  small  and  marginal farmers  in  the  core  and  giving  the  benefits  of farm mechanization, by Promoting 'Custom Hiring Centers' , creating hubs for hi-tech & high value farm equipments, distribution of various agricultural equipments, creating awareness among stakeholders through demonstration and capacity building activities, and ensuring performancetesting and certification at designated testing centers located all over the country.
- iv. National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM)  is  a  pan-India  electronic  trading portal which networks the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee

(APMC)  mandis  to  create  a  unified  national  market  for  agricultural commodities.  Digital  services  are  provided  to  traders,  farmers,  Farmers Producer  Organizations  (FPO),  Mandis  through  various  modules  of  eNAM  platform  such  as  FPO  trading  module,  warehouse  based  trading module.

- v. Under  PM  KISAN  Scheme,  fund  is  directly  transferred  into  the  bank accounts  of  the  eligible  farmers  under  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  mode. Farmers can do their self- registration through the Farmers Corner in the portal. PM-KISAN Mobile App was launched to broaden the reach of the scheme where farmers can view beneficiary status,  update or  carry  out corrections of name based on their Aadhaar card and also they can see history  of  benefits  transferred  to  their  bank  accounts.  Recently,  face authentication feature has also been included in PM-KISAN mobile App.
- vi. Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF):  To  mobilize  a  medium  -  long  term debt  finances  facility  for  investment  in  viable  projects  for  post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through incentives and financial support in order to improve agriculture infrastructure  in  the  country.  Financial  assistance  is  provided  digitally  in the form of Interest Subvention and Credit Guarantee for setting up postharvest  management  Infrastructure  to  beneficiaries  such  as  Farmers, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHG), State Agencies/APMCs.
- vii. National  Mission  on  Horticulture:  It  Promotes  holistic  development  of Horticulture sector (including bamboo & coconut) HORTNET project is a web enabled work flow- based system for providing financial assistance under  MIDH.  It  is  a  unique  intervention  to  accomplish  e-Governance  in NHM where-in total transparency has been envisaged in all the processes of  workflow  i.e.,  online  application  filing,  authentication,  processing  and online payment to the beneficiary's bank account through DBT.
- viii. National Project on Soil Health and Fertility:-Issuance of soil health cards to  farmers  of  the  country,  so  as  to  provide  a  basis  to  address  nutrient deficiencies  in  fertilization  practices.  Soil  Health  Card  Portal  is  available where farmers can track soil samples.
- ix. Several new technological initiatives has been taken under the Pradhan Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  such  as  Yield  Estimation  System,  based  on Technology  (YES-Tech),  Weather  Information  Network  Data  Systems (WINDS) portal and door to door enrollment app AIDE/Sahayak.
- a.  YES-TECH,  a  technology-driven  yield  estimation  system,  offering methodologies, best practices, and integration insights for accurate yield assessments at the Gram Panchayat level.
- b.  WINDS Portal is a centralized  platform  that  hosts,  manages,  and processes hyper-local weather data collected by Automatic Weather  Stations  and  Rain  Gauges  at  Taluk/Block  and  Gram Panchayat  levels. The  portal  enhances  risk  assessment  and decision-making  in  crop  insurance,  agriculture advisories,  and disaster  mitigation,  supporting  the  agricultural  sector  and  rural economy.
- c.  The  AIDE  app's  aims  to  revolutionize  the  enrolment  process, bringing  it  directly  to  the  doorstep  of  farmers.  This  door-to-door enrolment  ensures  a  seamless  and  transparent  process,  making crop insurance more accessible and convenient for farmers.
- x. The  Indian  Council  of  Agriculture  Research  (ICAR)  has  also  compiled more  than  100  mobile  apps  developed  by  ICAR,  State  Agricultural Universities  and  Krishi  Vigyan  Kendras  and  uploaded  on  its  website. These  mobile apps developed in the areas of crops, horticulture, veterinary,  dairy,  poultry,  fisheries,  natural  resources  management  and integrated  subjects,  offer  valuable  information  to  the  farmers,  including package  of  practices,  market  prices  of  various  commodities,  weather related information, advisory services, etc.
- xi. Further,  ICAR  has  developed  a  Digital  multimedia  platform  named  as 'Kisan Sarathi' which is being used to provide advisories to the farmers through 731 KVKs across the Country.

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