Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare organizes the National Conference on Implementing Digital Public Infrastructure under the Digital Agriculture Mission in New Delhi today
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare organizes the National Conference on Implementing Digital Public Infrastructure under the Digital Agriculture Mission in New Delhi today
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India, organized the National Conference on Implementing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) under the Digital Agriculture Mission in New Delhi today. The conference aimed to discuss the implementation of DPI in continuation of the Centre-State collaboration to integrate digital technologies in agriculture, focusing on the implementation of components of the Digital Agriculture Mission such as Agri Stack, Krishi DSS, soil profile mapping and others to streamline service delivery and enhance the efficiency of agricultural schemes. Senior officials from all parts of the country attended the conference. It was a crucial platform for addressing technical and administrative reforms required to implement the farmer registry, avail the Special Central Assistance (SCA) Scheme funds and synergise national effort with state-level implementations.
The conference began with a formal inaugural session, where Secretary (DA&FW), Shri Devesh Chaturvedi presented an overview of the Digital Agriculture Mission and the Special Central Assistance (SCA) Scheme, highlighting the government’s vision to revolutionize agriculture through technology enablement. This was followed by a presentation by Secretary Department of Land Resources, Shri Manoj Joshi discussing the synergy between land reforms, the Farmer Registry and the role of States in implementing these reforms.
The unveiling of the Guidelines of Digital Agriculture Mission and SCA for Farmer Registry implementation and the Farmer Registry Handbook marked a significant milestone for the sustainability of digital agriculture initiatives, signalling a commitment by the Government of India to provide technical and financial support to the States.
Key Sessions and Discussions:
Throughout the day, a series of interactive sessions were convened, fostering vibrant discussion that delved deep into the multifaceted landscape of digital agriculture initiatives such as Farmer Registry implementation, Digital Crop Survey etc. These session discussions served as an invaluable platform for stakeholders to exchange perspectives, insights, and experiences, shedding light on the states’ issues and challenges in nurturing a farmer-centric technology ecosystem. The Centre and the States discussed the issues, clarified their doubts and discussed solutions encouraging seamless collaboration between the Centre and the States-
The session featured an insightful presentation on implementing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the SCA scheme funds to states on Farmer Registry implementation by Dr Pramod Kumar Meherda, Addl. Secretary (Digital), DoA&FW.
Smt. Varsha Joshi, Addl Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, spoke about implementing Live Stack (DPI for livestock and animal husbandry sector), while Shri Sagar Mehra, Jt. Secretary (Do Fisheries) provided a vision for Aqua Stack (DPI for the fisheries sector) and integrated digital solutions in fisheries.
The second session consisted of a context-setting presentation by Shri Rajeev Chawla, Chief Knowledge Officer and Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Govt. of India.
The second session consisted of 3 panel discussions-
The second session included a context setting by Smt. Ruchika Gupta, Advisor (DA), Department of Agriculture, on the adoption of Support Registers.
Technical Discussions:
The event concluded with technical discussions led by the Agri Stack Technical Team, emphasizing the operational details and future roadmap for advancing DPI across the agricultural value chain.
The conference not only facilitated in-depth deliberations on the potential of digital technologies but also underscored the role of Digital Public Infrastructure in achieving the goals of the Digital India Mission.
Shri Ravi Ranjan Singh, Director (DA), delivered the Vote of Thanks.