Context:
Recently, the Union Cabinet Committee chaired by the Prime Minister Shri of India approved the Digital Agriculture Mission with an outlay of Rs. 2817 Crore, including the central share of Rs. 1940 Crore.
Relevance:
GS II: Government Policies and Intervention
Digital Agriculture Mission
- Established to advance digital initiatives in agriculture, this mission collaborates with various government bodies and academic institutions to develop a Digital Public Infrastructure and implement technologies like the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES).
Key Components of the Digital Agriculture Mission
- Digital Platforms Introduced:
- AgriStack: A key component of the Digital Agriculture Mission, AgriStack includes databases such as the Farmers’ Registry, Geo-referenced Village Maps, and the Crop Sown Registry. These are managed by state or UT administrations.
- Farmers’ Registry: Functions like a digital Aadhaar for farmers, linking real-time data on land ownership, crop details, and demographic information.
- Crop Sown Registry: Tracks agricultural planting details via mobile-based surveys each cropping season.
- Geo-referenced Village Maps: These maps integrate geographical data with physical land record locations.
- Krishi Decision Support System (DSS):
- Functionality: Develops a unified geospatial framework that aggregates and analyzes data on crops, soil, climate, and water resources to aid in crop mapping, risk assessment of natural calamities, and yield estimation for insurance purposes.
Soil Profiling Efforts
- Soil Profile Maps: The mission plans to create detailed soil maps for approximately 142 million hectares of agricultural land, enhancing farming decisions and strategies with completed soil profiles already covering around 29 million hectares.
