The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has recently partnered with private companies through five Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to further the cause of Digital Agriculture. These pilot projects come under the umbrella of the Digital Agriculture Mission, utilising the National Farmers Database, which already holds data on 5.5 crore farmers collected via national schemes.
Digital Agriculture: An Overview
Digital Agriculture is the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and other data ecosystems to provide timely, targeted information and services for farmers. The ultimate goal is making farming more profitable and sustainable, and ensuring the production of safe, nutritious, and affordable food. Some of the methodologies under Digital Agriculture are:
1. Agricultural biotechnology – these are various tools, including traditional breeding techniques, that modify living organisms or parts of them to create or alter products, improve plants or animals, or develop microorganisms for specific agricultural uses.
2. Precision agriculture – involves the precise use of inputs to increase average yields, using ICTs like digital and wireless technologies for data measurement, weather monitoring, robotics/drone technology, etc.
Potential Benefits of Digital Agriculture
Adopting these strategies can have numerous benefits including increased agricultural productivity, prevention of soil degradation, reduction of chemical application in crop production, and efficient use of water resources. Digital agriculture can also disseminate modern farm practices to improve the quality, quantity, and reduce the cost of production, while potentially uplifting the socio-economic status of farmers.
Challenges in Implementing Digital Agriculture
Despite the potential benefits, there remain several challenges such as high capital costs, which discourage farmers from adopting digital methods. The small size of most Indian farms, coupled with widespread agricultural land leasing, also presents limitations. Additionally, limited financial resources often lead farmers to rent or share platforms for equipment and machinery. The lack of basic computer literacy in rural areas also hinders the rapid development of digital farming.
Government Initiatives to Support Digital Agriculture
To combat these challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is creating AgriStack – a platform built on technological interventions in agriculture aimed at providing end-to-end services across the agricultural food value chain. The government has also initiated the Digital Agriculture Mission (2021-2025), which supports projects based on advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, remote sensing, GIS technology, drones, and robots.
Unified Farmer Service Platform (UFSP) and National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A)
The UFSP is a combination of Core Infrastructure, Data, Applications, and Tools that enable seamless interoperability of various public and private IT systems in the agricultural ecosystem across the country. This plays various crucial roles, such as acting as a repository of all applicable standards, APIs, and formats, and serving as a medium of data exchange among various schemes and services to comprehensively benefit farmers.
The NeGP-A is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched initially in 2010-11, extended to all states and two UTs by 2014-15 with the goal to provide timely access to agriculture-related information to farmers through the use of ICT.
Concluding Thoughts on the Progress of Digital Agriculture
As we move further into the 21st century, India stands at the precipice of a vast opportunity to modernize its farming sector through IT revolution. Building a robust digital infrastructure involving satellite imaging, soil health information, land records, cropping pattern and frequency, market data, among others, would be the key to success in this regard. By leveraging technologies such as Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Digital Topography, Land Use & Land Cover, and Soil Map, data efficiency can be greatly enhanced.
