Lok Sabha Question No. 259 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-04
Subject: Project VISTAAR
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Anurag Singh Thakur

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 259

TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  FEBRUARY, 2025

## PROJECT VISTAAR

259. SHRI. ANURAG SINGH THAKUR

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

(a) the primary objectives of Project VISTAAR and the manner in which it will improve access to agricultural resources and advisory services for farmers; (b) the number of regions or districts currently being targeted under this initiative and the plans for scaling it across the country; (c) the specific funding allocated for the said project and the manner in which it will be utilized to ensure effective implementation; (d) the details of advanced technologies being integrated into the project to address key challenges such as resource optimization, pest management and crop planning; (e) the details of training programmes being planned to enable farmers to use the tools and systems developed and the number of farmers expected to be benefited from the same; and organizations  or  international

(f) whether  there  are  any  partnerships  with  private institutions under the said project and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a): Project VISTAAR (Virtually Integrated System To Access Agricultural Resources) aims to  develop  a  unified,  federated  digital  ecosystem  for  agriculture  by  integrating  reliable, validated  and  up-to-date  resources  across  platforms.  It  focuses  on  enhancing  scalability, accessibility  and  inclusivity  of  digital  solutions  while  enabling  two-way  communication  to incorporate farmer feedback. By driving center-state convergence, fostering partnerships with stakeholders  and  aligning  with  broader  efforts  of  ICAR  Institutes  and  State  Agricultural Universities. VISTAAR supports the development of robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for  agricultural  extension.  Its  goal  is  to  empower  farmers  with  actionable  information, streamline  collaboration  and  ensure  the  long-term  sustainability  of  digital  agricultural extension initiatives.

Digitalization  of  the  existing  agricultural  extension  system  aims  to  expand  its  outreach substantially  and  enable  every  farmer  to  access  high-quality  advisory  services  on  crop production, marketing, value and supply chain management and Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices, weather advisories etc. The advisory services provide information about all Government  schemes  related  to  agriculture  &  allied  sectors  from  which  the  farmers  are benefited.

(b): The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare  has  signed  Memorandum  of Understanding  (MoU)  with  states  of  Odisha,  Bihar,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Karnataka,  Andhra Pradesh,  Madhya  Pradesh  and  Rajasthan  to  onboard  their  technical  and  content  review committees onto the network and have started work on small pilots.

(c): Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  supports  existing  VISTAAR  project implementation. No separate funds are allotted.

(d): VISTAAR aims integration with all initiatives and federal solutions via the network for access of farmers to up-to date information. This includes leveraging AI enabled chatbots deployed at the ground level and subsequent integration with Agristack.

(e): Efforts for VISTAAR includes extension worker training on the digital bots. This can be facilitated  through  existing  partnerships  and  network  volunteers  for  conducting  training  to Front  Line  Extension  Workers  (FLEW)  to  enhance  video  production  skills  and  handling advanced IT tools to access required information at field level for providing further training to farmers in a phased manner.

(f): Memorandum of  Understanding  (MoU)  have  been  signed  with  EkStep  Foundation which is a not for profit organization for development of the VISTAAR DPI network on probono basis. VISTAAR is also supported by not for profit organizations like Digital Green for content development on pro-bono basis. IIT-Madras has signed an MoU with DA&FW for sharing content on Agri-Startups for the benefit of farmers on pro-bono basis.

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