Why in News:

• The Centre’s digital agriculture proposals raised concerns of exploitation of farmers, data protection and consent, mismanaged land records, exclusion of landless cultivators and the corporatisation of agriculture, according to the feedback to the government.

What is the government’s new proposal

• The Centre published a consultation paper on an India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)
• It aims to keep farmers at the centre of agro-ecology by promoting free digital technologies. This is to be achieved through creating ‘AgriStack’ (a collection of technology-based interventions in agriculture), on which all the other services/platforms can be built
• Recognizing the importance of digitization in agriculture, The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is preparing a centralised farmers database and formulating various services based on it in order to create a digital ecosystem for agriculture.
• This database will be linked with the land records of farmers across the country and unique farmer IDs will be generated.
• Under an integrated database for farmers, information related to all benefits and assistance provided through various schemes of the central and state governments can be kept at one place and it can be a source of information for providing benefits to the farmers in future.
• A database with the details of about 5 crore farmers has been prepared so far. It is expected that the database will soon be completed by incorporating the details of all landholding farmers into it.
• The available data related to PM Kisan, Soil Health Card and PM Crop Insurance Scheme have already been integrated. 
• The process of collating data from other databases of the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Ministries of Fertilizers, Food and Public Distribution is in progress.

Objectives of India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)

• To create a National Digital Agriculture Ecosystem, increase the efficiency and production of the Indian agriculture sector, and boost farmer welfare and income.
• Increasing farmer income through timely access to the relevant information and innovative services- To help reach the target of doubling farmers income by 2022
• Keeping policies, programmes, and plans of the federal and state governments, as well as the business sector and Farmers Producer Organizations, in sync with one another (FPOs).
• More efficient use of resources, such as land, water, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and farm mechanisation, by making information more accessible.
• To provide location-specific and customised extension services across the agriculture lifecycle while also protecting personal data privacy.
• To develop capacities in a variety of areas, including digital agriculture and precision agriculture.
• Encourage agricultural R&D and innovation by providing high-quality data.
• Adoption of standards to ensure interoperability and information flow across ecosystems.

Advantages

• Enhances productivity and profitability of the farmers: Farmers will be able to make informed decisions about which crop to grow, what type of seed to use, when to sow and what best practices to adopt to maximize yield.
• Increases efficiency of logistics and supply chain system: Those involved in the agricultural supply chain can plan their procurement and logistics with accurate and timely information.
• Help in providing localized solutions and tailored recommendations to the farming community as per their needs . An accurate and smart farming can be possible by getting proper information at the right time.
• Integration with the market economy: Farmers can decide whether they have to sell or store their produce, and further when, where and at what price they have to sell it. In the process, farmers get benefitted from innovative solutions and individual-specific services powered by emerging technologies.

Concerns

• Issue of data privacy and consent: especially because India’s data protection bill is yet to be passed.( Personal Data Protection Ill. 2019)
• Risk of commodifying agriculture and farmer data: This could lead to unethical business practices that can exploit the farmers
• Information asymmetry: farmers, particularly small and marginal farms, may be further exploited if information is skewed toward technology businesses.
• There is a digital divide in rural India, both in terms of farmers’ “access” to technology and their “digital education.”
• Issue of Commercialization : This could result in private corporations charging unreasonable charges for these services.
• Landless cultivators are excluded because they lack digitised land records.
• Poor quality and implementation of the digital land records programme: Many states have not adopted, or have only partially completed, the land digitization initiative.

Related Information

PM-KISAN

• All land holding eligible farmers will receive a financial benefit of Rs.6000 per annum per family payable in three equal installments, every four months.

Soil Health Card

• The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
• The Soil Health Card (SHC) is a printed report that details the nutrient condition of agricultural holdings in terms of pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon (OC), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Zinc (Zn), Boron (B), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), and Copper (Cu).
• SHC is given to all farmers in the country every 2 years to allow them to apply prescribed nutrient doses based on soil test readings, resulting in enhanced and sustainable soil health and fertility, lower costs, and higher profits. Farmers can keep track of their soil samples through the Soil Health Card.

PM Crop Insurance Scheme(Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana)

• The PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.
• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare administers the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which was inaugurated in 2016.
• It provides a comprehensive insurance protection against crop loss, assisting farmers in stabilising their revenue.
• All food and oilseed crops, as well as annual commercial and horticultural crops for which yield data is available, are included.
• Premium: Farmers are required to pay a premium of 2% for all Kharif crops and 1.5 percent for all rabi crops. The premium is 5% in the case of annual commercial and horticultural crops.

Other Technology Interventions for Agriculture

• Kisan Suvidha Mobile Application– The app enables farmers to receive information on essential aspects such as weather, market prices, plant protection, input dealers (seed, pesticide, fertiliser), farm machinery, and so on.
• mKisan Portal for providing SMS advisories to registered farmers about various crop-related issues.
• The e-National Agriculture Market plan, which will provide farmers with an electronic internet trading platform, will be launched.
• Implementation of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, a sub-scheme of the Integrated Scheme of Agricultural Marketing, with the goal of improving/creating scientific storage capacity for farm produce, processed farm produce, and reducing post-harvest storage losses.
• Agricultural Output Forecasting Using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based Observations Project, National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System, Rice-Fallow Area Mapping and Intensification, Geo Tagging of Infrastructure and Assets Created Under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, and Crop Insurance are some of the programs/areas where space technology is being used.
• For crop classification and area estimate, machine learning techniques  can be used in conjunction with several computer algorithms.
• At the district level, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Agricultural Technology Management Agencies would be established to disseminate technologies to the farming population.
• Farmers are also informed through Focused Publicity Campaigns, Kisan Call Centers, entrepreneur-run Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centers, Agri Fairs and Exhibitions, Kisan SMS Portal, and other means.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centres-digital-agri-proposals-raise-concerns-of-farmer-exploitation/article35066229.ece