Image credit source: CR Shelare-Moment-Getty Images
The Aadhaar card changed the lives of millions of people in the country. Now the government is going to take steps for farmers that will change their image as well as that of the agriculture sector. Taking a major step towards digitisation of the agriculture sector, Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Monday said that the government will soon start registering farmers across the country so that they can be issued a unique identity (ID) card similar to Aadhaar. Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of Outlook Agri-Tech Summit and Swaraj Awards, Chaturvedi said that guidelines for the registration process will be issued soon, the implementation of which will begin in the first week of October.
The government has maintained a budget of Rs 2,817 crore.
The Secretary said that our target is to register five crore farmers by March next year. He said that this initiative is part of the government’s Rs 2,817 crore Digital Farming Mission that was recently approved by the Cabinet. He said that earlier a pilot project was carried out in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and 19 states have already worked on this project.
Once the farmers’ register is created, each registered farmer will be provided with a unique ID like Aadhaar. Chaturvedi said the unique ID will help farmers access various agricultural schemes, including Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Kisan Credit Card programme, without any hassle. The data collected will also help the government in planning targeted extension services and policies.
read this too
These problems will be solved
He said that currently farmers have to go through verification every time before applying for any farm scheme. Not only does it involve costs, but some also face harassment. To address this problem we will create a register of farmers. The secretary said that the current government data is limited to parcels of agricultural land and crop details provided by states but lacks individual information of farmers. The new register aims to bridge this gap.
Camps will be organized throughout the country.
Chaturvedi urged progressive farmers, scientists and corporates to create awareness about the farmer registration process and encourage participation. Camps will be organised across the country for the registration drive. The official said the government is also working on several other technological interventions, including the Kisan AI-based chatbox system, to improve services and support to farmers.
