Agri Ministry Organizes ‘Workshop on Digital Crop Survey’ to Provide One Verified Source About Farmer & his/her Crop-Sown Data

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India, hosted a 'Workshop on Digital Crop Survey' in New Delhi, bringing together representatives from various states. The event aimed to explore the potential of digital technology in revolutionizing crop survey methods and improving agricultural practices across the country.

Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary, Government of India, emphasized the importance of developing a digital public infrastructure for agriculture that is open source, open standard, and interoperable. Such infrastructure would facilitate inclusive and farmer-centric solutions by providing relevant information services for crop planning, health assessment, improved access to farm inputs, credit and insurance facilities, crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of Agri Techs industry and start-ups.

Dr. Meherda further explained that the Digital Crop Survey initiative aims to establish a comprehensive and accurate database of crop cultivation across all farmlands in the country throughout the different agriculture seasons. This project seeks to create a single, verified source of truth regarding farmers and their crop-sown data. To achieve this, a robust and transparent digitally driven crop survey system utilizing advanced technologies such as visual and advanced analytics, GIS-GPS, and AI/ML is essential.

Ajay Tirkey, Secretary, Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Government of India, delivered an insightful session on the relevance of geo-referenced plots and their implementation in realizing the larger federated vision of AgriStack. Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Government of India, provided an overview of how the Digital Public Infrastructure, known as AgriStack and Krishi DSS, will address the challenges faced in the agriculture sector. The workshop emphasized the desired outcomes and the support the central government will provide to the states for the effective and successful implementation of the Digital Crop Survey.

During the workshop, a user manual for the web portal and mobile application for the Digital Crop Survey were unveiled, followed by foundational sessions. Ruchika Gupta, Adviser, MoA&FW, Government of India, discussed the implementation plan of the Digital Crop Survey and highlighted the advantages it brings to various stakeholders. She also outlined the responsibilities of the central government in this regard.

Rajeev Chawla, Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) & Advisor, DA&FW, Government of India, presented the key features of the Digital Crop Survey. He addressed issues related to handling joint ownership plots, managing deceased farmers in the formation of states' farmers registry, data standards, and the minimum viable features required for the successful implementation of the Digital Crop Survey.

Hukum Singh Meena, Additional Secretary, DoLR, Government of India, gave a presentation on the use of geo-referencing tools for drone surveys. He explained the benefits of utilizing such tools and provided insights on their effective usage. To kickstart the Digital Crop Survey in the states, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the State Governments of Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and the Government of India.

The workshop also included a demonstration of the web application and mobile app for the Digital Crop Survey, conducted by officials from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). This demonstration aimed to familiarize the nodal officers and technical teams of the states with the functionalities and features of the Digital Crop Survey system. Additionally, the session covered the configuration and customization aspects of the application that can be tailored by individual states.