The national digital platform, as proposed by the Indian Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Digital Green, will be a comprehensive solution for the agriculture industry in India. The platform will feature a digital library of content and offer online courses for upskilling in various agriculture-related fields.
It will provide a central location for extension workers to access a digital library of curated content, including information about agriculture, horticulture, livestock, dairy, fisheries, and rural livelihoods.
The content will be in multiple formats and languages, making it accessible to a wide range of farmers. In addition to providing information, the platform will also offer online training for extension workers, allowing them to further improve their skills and better serve farmers.
Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, MoA&FW, GOI conveyed that “The proposed national digital platform will help make our extension system more efficient and effective by connecting farmers to the strong foundation of the digital agriculture ecosystem that is being built by the government. Digital capacity of this extension system is crucial to help farmers reap the benefits of digital agriculture and will serve as one of the components of digital public infrastructure for Agriculture announced recently in the Union Budget.”
The platform will be a single point of contact for various departments involved in agriculture, making it easier for them to reach farmers and increase their efficiency. This will also reduce the fragmentation of outreach efforts, as all departments will be converging their efforts under one digital platform. The platform will be launched within six months and will have the portal and capabilities to serve the entire farming community in India.
Digital Green, the social enterprise partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, has a strong track record in using technology to support small and marginal farmers. They have been working with governments in several states in India and have already served over 25 lakh farmers, enhancing the capacities of front-line workers.
The proposed platform will contribute to and complement the national systems, serving as a digital public good for the farm sector in India. Rikin Gandhi, the founder of Digital Green, believes that technology must make a positive difference to farmers and is proud to be a key stakeholder in this initiative.
