Lok Sabha Question No. 252 (STARRED), answered on 2016-03-15
Subject: Information Technology in Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA, MIDHUN REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION & FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 252

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 15 TH  MARCH, 2016

## INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE

*252.    SHRIMATI KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA: SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY:

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

- (a) whether the Government has initiated any scheme to provide aid to the farmers for use of modern information technology and e-commerce technology and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the farmers in the country are deprived of the weather related information and if so, the details thereof; and

- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(a) to (c):

(SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  252  DUE FOR REPLY ON 15 TH  MARCH, 2016.

- (a): Government  is  implementing  a  Mission  Mode  ProjectNational  e  Governance Plan-Agriculture  (NeGP-A) for  helping  farmers  access  information  related  to  latest technology.    This  project  has  been  approved  at  a  total  cost  of  Rs.858.79  crore  for implementation  of  this  scheme  over  the  entire  country.    12  clusters  of  services  have been identified for the project.  Dissemination of Information to the farmers have been aimed  through  various  delivery  channels  including  Common  Service  Centres,  Web Portals, SMSs and Kisan Call Centres, Mobile Apps etc.

Many important portals have been developed under NeGP-A such as:

mKisan Portal to enable Officers, Scientists and Experts from all Organizations and Departments of the Government of India and State Governments (including State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Agro-Meteorological Field Units (AMFUs) all over the country for disseminating information (giving topical & seasonal  advisories  and  providing  services  through  SMSs  to  farmers  in  their  local languages) on various agricultural activities to registered farmers.

Secondly, Farmers' Portal has been developed to serve as One Stop Shop for all the  farmers  for  accessing  information  on  agricultural  activities.    Farmers  can  get information  about  package  of  practices;  crop/seed  varieties;  common  pests;  dealer network for seeds, fertilizers & pesticides; machinery and tools; agro-met advisories etc.

Thirdly,  Soil  Health  Card  Portal  has  been  developed  for  registration  of  Soil samples,  recording  test  results  of  soil  samples  and  generation  of  Soil  Health  Card (SHC) along with fertilizer recommendations.

-2-

Besides other  portal  such  as  Crop  Insurance  Portal,  PGS  Portal,  Agmarknet  Portal have  been  developed  to  provide  information  to  farmers.    Also,  the  Department  had developed mobile applications for information on  Hail Storm, Crop Insurance, Agri Market etc.

Under Market Research and Information Network (MRIN) Scheme, market information,  on  prices  and  arrivals  of  agricultural  commodities  in  wholesale  markets  is disseminated to farmers and other stakeholders.

A  scheme  for  setting  up  of  National  Agriculture  Market  (NAM)  through  Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) was approved by the Government with a budget of Rs.200 crore.

(b) & (c): No,  Madam.    The  farmers  in  the  country  are  not  deprived  of  the  weather information.    Farmers  in  the  country  are  provided  with  weather  information  along  with advisories through different modes of communication like AIR, TV, Print media, private TV channels and SMS using mobile phones.

The  Government  has  introduced  several  latest  information  technology  initiatives  to provide  weather  information  to  the  farmers.    Under  modernization  plan,  Earth  System Science  Organization-India  Meteorological  Department  (ESSO-IMD)  has  installed  706 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and 129 Agro-AWS throughout the country.  In addition to  that,  satellite  data  received  through  KALPANA  and  INSAT  3A,  INSAT 3D geostationary satellite  data  are  extensively  used  in  weather  forecasting.    In  addition,  Indian  Council  of Agricultural  Research  created  a  network  of  71  Automatic  Weather  Stations  (AWS)  in  the selected  KVKs  and  State  Agricultural  Universities  under  National  Initiative  on  Climatic Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project; hosting of a dedicated website for continuous online monitoring  of  instant  weather  data  across  the  locations;  preparation  and  dissemination  of micro level weather based agro-advisories to farmers.

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Under  the  'Gramin  Krishi  Mausam  Sewa  (GKMS)'    Project,  Earth  System Science Organisation-India  Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD) is providing SMS based  alert  system  particularly  for  extreme  events  like  cyclone,  unusual  rainfall hailstorm  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers  in  the  country.    The  Government  has launched the Nowcast-Extreme  weather Alerts services to farmers on 18 June, 2015 for  providing  localized  Extreme  Weather  Warnings  through  SMSs,  to  more  than  1.8 crore  farmers  registered  on  mKisan  Portal.    Also,  under  this  project,  District  level weather forecast  for  next  5  days  of  weather  parameters  like  Temperature  (Maximum and Minimum), Rainfall, Relative Humidity,  Cloud, Wind and also Agromet Advisories are sent to farmers twice a week.

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