Digitization Of Farm Data Needs Awareness

Context: Digitisation of Indian agriculture has various concerns and challenges.

About Digital Agricultural Mission

• Adoption of technology: Launched for period 2021-25 to promote the use of novel technologies like AI, block chain (hack-proof) data upkeep, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), drones, and robots.
• Informed decision making: To enable various players in farm sector value chain, from production to consumption, to take informed decisions about their professional and business matters.
  • Digital access to timely, situation-specific, and problem-solving knowhow to farmers.
  • Tips to farmers on their crops and varieties to grow, and when and where to sell their produce to realise the best prices.
• Collaboration of private entities with agriculture on pro bono (free of charge) basis in selected areas.
  • “JioKrishi” Platform launched by Reliance Jio to provide soil tests and water availability-based advisories to cultivators.
  • ITC famed for its network of e-choupals, has proposed to start a customised digital “site-specific crop advisory service”.

Challenges associated with digitisation of Indian agriculture

• Scepticism with involvement of private companies in farmers’ affairs.
• Privacy: Posting farmers’ personal profiles in the public domain are prone to mis-use and can impinge on the right to privacy.
• Misrepresenting land records, most of which are in bad shape at present.
• Potential corporatisation of agriculture, subjugating the interests of actual land tillers.

Way Forward – Agri-data policy

• The private data of farmers shall not be shared with any organisation.
• Special policy to regulate collecting, preserving, and protecting agricultural data.
• Public reach out: A well-organised awareness campaign by Agri-ministry to allay their fears concerning the digitisation of farm data.