13-Dec-2022: Agristack Project
The Department has commenced the work for creating Agristack in the country. In order to create Agristack, the department has finalized the core concept of “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” which lays down a framework for Agristack. For this, a Task Force was constituted and in furtherance, a concept paper on IDEA was prepared and comments were invited from subject experts, farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and general public.
Agristack is a federated structure and ownership of data is with the States only.
Access to federated Farmers’ database is with Government only. No private company is involved in developing the federated Farmers’ database. As of now, the federated database is being built by taking the publicly available data as existing in the Department and in various data silos in Government.
Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for Proof of Concepts (PoCs) with various companies for development of use cases have been signed and accordingly carried out.
5-Aug-2022: Smart Farming
Government is promoting adoption of smart farming methods through the use of technology and innovation in the agriculture sector in the country. Government is implementing a Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM) which includes India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA), Farmers Database, Unified Farmers Service Interface (UFSI), Funding to the States on the new Technology (NeGPA), Revamping Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC), Soil Health, Fertility and profile mapping. Under the NeGPA programme funding is given to State Governments for Digital Agriculture projects using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IOT), Block chain etc. Adoption of drone technologies is being done. To promote smart farming, the Government promotes Startups in the Agriculture sector and nurtures Agri-entrepreneurs. The Per Drop More Crop component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY-PDMC) aims to increase water use efficiency at the farm level through micro irrigation technologies, i.e., drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. The GoI started eNAM (National Agriculture Market), an electronic trading portal which creates networks between the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis for the farmers.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) promotes innovation, extension and education in agriculture. A total of 1575 field crop varieties were released for different agricultural crops during 2014-21. During 2014-21, 91.43 crore agro-advisories were provided to farmers through mobiles. ICAR developed 187 mobiles apps on different farm and farmer related services during 2014-21. These ICAR apps are now integrated on one common platform called KISAAN. The Farmer FIRST (Farm, Innovations, Resources, Science and Technology) initiative was launched during this period by ICAR with enhanced farmers-scientists interface to move beyond production and productivity.
26-Jul-2022: Steering Committee constituted on various initiatives being undertaken, especially India Digital Ecosystem in Agriculture (IDEA) and the proposed AgriStack
Steering Committee has been constituted comprising of experts from different Ministries of Government of India, fields/domain, educational & research Institutes, private tech players and other stakeholders for advising on various initiatives that are being undertaken, especially India Digital Ecosystem in Agriculture (IDEA) and the proposed AgriStack, including implementation experiences across different fields and sectors.
Further, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had organized a Digital Agriculture-Stakeholder Consultation meet on 11.07.2022 in New Delhi, to create a vision for Public Private Partnership for the delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers with the involvement of public sector research and extension institutions along with private Agri-tech players and stakeholders of Agri-value chain.
Government of India has made an announcement in the Union Budget 2022 regarding the setting up of a fund routed through NABARD under a co-investment model to finance startups in the AgriTech space.
Looking into the unique advantages of Drone technologies in agriculture, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has released the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of drones in pesticide and nutrient application in public domain in December 2021, which provide concise instructions for effective and safe operations of drones. In order to make this technology affordable to the farmers and other stakeholders of this sector, financial assistance @ 100% for purchase of agricultural drones and its attachments (actual cost of expenditure and its attachments or Rs. 10.00 lakhs, whichever is lower) together with the contingent expenditure is extended under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) to the Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and @ 75% to FPO’s for its demonstration on the farmer’s fields. In order to provide agricultural services through drone application, financial assistance @ 40% of the basic cost of drone and its attachments or Rs. 4 lakhs, whichever is less also provided for drone purchase by existing and new Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) and also a general category farmers and @ 50% of the basic cost of drone and its attachments or Rs. 5 lakhs for SC/ST/women/small and marginal farmers and the agriculture graduates.
A component called “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” has been launched under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) in 2018-19 with the objective of promoting innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. Under this programme, start-ups are encouraged to use innovative technologies to resolve challenges faced in agriculture and allied sectors. A total of 799 start-ups have been selected in various areas of agriculture and allied sectors under this programme for providing financial support through Knowledge Partners and Agri Business Incubators appointed by the Department for implementation of this programme.
The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has been supporting Agri-based startups under the project called National Agriculture Innovation Fund (NAIF) initiated in year 2016-2017. It has two components viz. (I) Innovation Fund; (II) Incubation Fund and National Coordinating Unit (NCU):
- Component I: 10 Zonal Technology Management Units and 89 Institute Technology Management Units (ITMUs) established in 99 ICAR institutes provide a single-window mechanism to manage innovations, showcase intellectual assets, and pursue matters related to intellectual property (IP) management and transfer/commercialization of technologies in these institutes.
- Component II: Agri-business Incubator Centres (ABICs) are set up to speed up the delivery of the new technologies to stake holders. The ABICs are the nodal point to provide the desired link for Agriculture Research &Development (R&D) Institutions for incubation/ commercialization of the validated technologies. So far, 50 Agri-Business Incubation Centers have been established and are operational in the ICAR network under the NAIF scheme.
5-Apr-2022: Digital Agriculture Mission
Digital Agriculture Mission is yet to be finalized. However, following activities/initiatives are being taken under Digital Agriculture:
1. The Department has constituted a High Level Task Force, which is in the process of finalizing “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) report. Task Force invited comments from subject experts, farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and general public and considered them. Based on this, the Department is in the process of finalizing a framework for creating Agristack in the country, which will serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging digital technologies to contribute effectively towards increasing the income of farmers and improve efficiency of the Agriculture sector in the country. Once finalized, this can serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging technologies to contribute effectively towards increasing the income of farmers and improve farm efficiency/efficiency of the Agriculture sector in the country.
In this regard, leading Technology/Agri-tech/Start-Ups companies were identified and invited to collaborate with the Government of India and develop Proof of Concepts (PoC) based on data of select Districts/ Villages. A public call through the Department’s website was issued inviting proposals for Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Companies were invited to sign MoU on purely pro bono basis and develop the PoCs. These PoCs will help in understanding the uses of Agristack and service & solutions that can be built using available data and some of them, if found beneficial to the farmers will be scaled up at National level. In this regard, the Government has signed MoU with leading Technology/Agri-tech Players & Start-ups for working on Proof of Concepts (PoCs) in the select Districts/Villages.
2. Under National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture guideline, funds are released to the States/Union Territories for the projects involving use of modern information technologies such as such as Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Block Chain Technology, Internet of Things, Robotics etc., and for customization/shifting of web & mobile applications already developed by the States, to the platform to be developed using digital technologies.
3. Various mobile applications including Kisan Suvidha have also been developed to facilitate dissemination of information to farmers on the critical parameters viz., Weather, Market Prices, Plant Protection, Agro-advisory, Extreme Weather Alerts, Input Dealers ( of Seed, Pesticide, Fertilizer, Farm Machinery), Soil Health Card, Cold Storage & Godowns, Soil Testing Laboratories and Veterinary Centre & Diagnostic labs, Crop Insurance Premium Calculator and the Government schemes.
15-Mar-2022: MoU for post-harvest mechanism
The Department has constituted a high level Task Force, which is in the process of finalizing “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” report. Based on this, the Department is in the process of finalizing a framework for creating Agristack in the country, which will serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging digital technologies to contribute effectively towards increasing the income of farmers and improve efficiency of the Agriculture sector in the country.
Leading Technology/Agri-tech/Start-Ups companies were identified and invited to collaborate with the Government of India and develop Proof of Concepts (PoC) based on data of select Districts / Villages. A public call through the Department’s website was issued inviting proposals for Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Companies were invited to sign MoU on purely pro bono basis and develop the PoCs. These PoCs will help in understanding the uses of Agristack and service & solutions that can be built using available data and some of them, if found beneficial to the farmers will be scaled up at National level. In this regard, the Government has signed MoU with leading Technology/Agri-tech Players & Start-ups for working on Proof of Concepts (PoCs) in the select Districts/Villages.
Accordingly, Government has signed an MOU with Microsoft India Pvt. Ltd. for consolidating Agri ecosystem across the value chain (farm to fork) to empower the farmer using data Analytics. In this regard, 100 villages in 10 districts across several states have been selected and a pilot is being carried out by Microsoft and their local partner.
Access to federated Farmers’ database will be with Government only. No private company is involved in developing the federated Farmers’ database.
As of now, the federated database is being built by taking the publicly available data as existing in the Department and in various data silos in Government.
15-Mar-2022: Linking of Farmer Identity (FID) with Agristack Data
The Department has constituted a High Level Task Force, which is in the process of finalizing “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) report. Task Force invited comments from subject experts, farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and general public and considered them. Based on this, the Department is in the process of finalizing a framework for creating Agristack in the country, which will serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging digital technologies to contribute effectively towards increasing the income of farmers and improve efficiency of the Agriculture sector in the country. Once finalized, this can serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging technologies to contribute effectively towards increasing the income of farmers and improve farm efficiency/efficiency of the Agriculture sector in the country with an overall goal of Doubling of Farmers’ Incomes. A federated farmers’ database is being built by the Department and once completed, this would serve as the core of the Agristack.
As of now, the federated database is being built by taking the publicly available data as existing in the Department and in various data silos in Government.
The Department is reaching out to farmers of the country through various digital platforms including websites and mobile applications.
8-Feb-2022: Idea Database
The Department has commenced the work for creating various agricultural services built around a core layer of Farmers’ Database (Agristack) in the country. In order to create Agristack, the department is in the process of finalising the “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” which lays down a framework for building Agristacks. This Ecosystem shall help the Government in effective planning towards increasing the income of farmers in particular and improving the efficiency of the Agriculture sector, as a whole. As a first step, in this direction, the Government has already initiated building federated farmers’ database that would serve as the core of the envisaged Agristack. The federated farmers’ database is being built by taking the publicly available data as existing in the Department and in various data silos in Government and linking them with the digitised land records. The issue of data protection / data privacy etc. in the Agristack are being deliberated and hence, as of now, no decision has been taken regarding the mandatory enrolment of farmers in the Database.
At present, proposed farmers’ database will include the farmers registered under the PM-Kisan Scheme.
3-Aug-2021: Government is in the process of finalising 'India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)' which will lay down a framework for Agristack
The Department has commenced the work for creating Agristack in the country. In order to create Agristack, the department is in the process of finalising “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” which will lay down a framework for Agristack. Accordingly, a Task Force has been constituted and in furtherance, a Concept Paper on IDEA has already been floated for comments from the general public not only through department’s website but also through emails especially to subject matter specialists, Agro-Industry, Farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The IDEA would help in laying down the architecture for the Agri-stack in the country and that would serve as a foundation to build innovative Agri-focused solutions leveraging emerging technologies to contribute effectively in creating a better Ecosystem for Agriculture in India. This Ecosystem shall help the Government in effective planning towards increasing the income of farmers in particular and improving the efficiency of the Agriculture sector as a whole. As a first step in this direction Government has already initiated building federated farmers’ database that would serve as the core of the envisaged Agristack.
No private sector companies are involved as far as building of the Agristack is concerned. However, leading Technology/Agri-tech/StartUp companies were identified and invited to collaborate with the Government of India to develop Proof of Concepts (PoC) based on small portions of data from the federated Farmers’ database for certain identified areas (Districts/Village). A public call through the Department’s website has been placed inviting proposals for PoCs. MoUs purely on pro bono basis with selected companies are being signed, for a period of one year to develop PoCs. The PoCs will help in understanding solutions that can be built using available data and some of them, if found beneficial to the farmers will be scaled up at National level.
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has signed an MoU with Esri India Technologies Private Limited for working on a Proof of Concept (PoC) in select Districts/Villages to develop a model for an Agriculture Geo-Hub with an objective to establish a framework to collect and integrate available geo-spatial information with other associated information, perform spatial analytics, share results & data and deploy dynamic Apps which would support estimates for policy planning, monitoring requirements and ease in decision making.