Context
The Union Ministry of Agriculture is planning a Smart Precision Horticulture Programme under the existing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme.
About
- The government has also installed 22 Precision Farming Development Centres (PFDCs) across the country to test new technologies and regulate them as per local needs.
- It will cover 15,000 acres of land in 5 years from 2024-25 to 2028-29 and is expected to benefit about 60,000 farmers.
- At present, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), launched in 2020, has provisions for financing infrastructure projects for smart and precision agriculture.
- Under AIF, individual farmers as well as farmers’ communities together with Farmer Producer Organization, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies and SHGs are eligible for loans with interest subvention of 3% for the use of technological solutions in farm practices.
Precision Farming
- Precision farming (PF) is an approach to farm management that uses data technology to ensure that the crops and soil acquire exactly what they need for maximum health and productivity.
- Rather than applying compatible inputs across the entire field, the approach aims to manage and distribute them on a site specific basis to maximize long-term cost benefit as well as prevent any waste.
- Over the last few decades, many technologies have been advanced for PF; they may be divided into ‘tender’ and ‘difficult.”
- Soft precision agriculture depends on visible commentary of plants and soil control selections based on revel in and instinct, rather than statistical and scientific analysis.
- Hard precision agriculture uses all present day strategies which include GPS, faraway sensing, and variable rate technology.
Precision Farming in India
- In India, the practice is to this point advanced for nutrient-use performance (NUE) and water-use performance (WUE).
- PF within the Indian landscape is but to grow to be an quintessential part of mainstream farming structures.
- However, technological advances and rising interest amongst scientific organisations carry new perspectives and reinvent the generation to match all farm types and economic skills.
Use of Technology in Agriculture
- It consists of integrating contemporary digital generation into the farm manufacturing machine, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, uncrewed aviation systems, sensors, and communication networks.
- These improvements will boost returns, and enhance the efficacy of irrigation and different inputs.
Role of Technology for Agriculture in India
- Assess Soil Health: Technological interventions based totally on soil sensors, remote sensing unmanned aerial surveying and market insights, and so forth., will permit farmers to assess crop and soil health situations at specific ranges of manufacturing.
- Improvement in Crop Yeild: Technologies like Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) algorithms can help in producing actual-time actionable insights for improving crop yield, controlling pests, assisting in soil screening, presenting actionable statistics for farmers, and lowering their workload.
- Use of Blockchain Technology: It may be supplying tamper-evidence and particular records about farms, inventories, short and steady transactions, and food monitoring.
Significance
- Increasing agricultural productivity and decreasing manufacturing value,
- Inhibits soil degradation,
- Lessening of chemical utility in crop production,
- Promoting effective and efficient use of water sources,
- Uplifting socio-financial statuses of farmers,
- Reducing environmental and ecological effects,
- Augmenting worker security.
Challenges in Implementation
- Limited Digital Infrastructure: Rural regions regularly lack robust digital infrastructure which includes net connectivity and power, hindering the adoption of digital technology by farmers.
- Digital Divide: There’s a significant digital divide among urban and rural areas in India.
- Cost of Technology: Many digital agriculture solutions require big investments which can be unaffordable for smallholder farmers with confined assets.
- Fragmented Agriculture Sector: India’s agriculture quarter is fragmented, with a big wide variety of smallholder farmers and various plants grown across extraordinary areas.
- Developing digital solutions that cater to this variety is tough.
- Capacity Building: Training farmers to correctly use digital equipment and interpret the statistics generated is a major assignment.
Government Initiatives
- India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA): It is a framework designed to lay down the architecture for a federated farmers’ database, facilitating revolutionary agri-centered solutions using emerging technology to decorate the rural environment.
- National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A): Funds are allotted to states/UTs for initiatives related to contemporary technologies together with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Robotics, Drones, Data Analytics, and Blockchain in agriculture.
- National Agriculture Market (e-NAM): A pan-India electronic buying and selling portal connecting Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities, providing digital services to traders, farmers, and mandis.
- PM KISAN Scheme: Direct switch of finances to eligible farmers’ bank accounts under Direct Benefit Transfer mode, with self-registration to be had through the Farmers Corner inside the portal and a devoted mobile app for broader get entry to.
- Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (AGMARKNET): Supports the creation of agricultural marketing infrastructure by supplying backend subsidy aid and gives services via the AGMARKNET portal for stakeholders together with farmers, industry, and policymakers.
- Mobile Apps by ICAR: More than 100 cell apps evolved by ICAR, State Agricultural Universities, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras are providing precious records to farmers on plants, horticulture, veterinary, dairy, chicken, fisheries, and herbal sources management.
- Soil Health Card Scheme: The Soil Health Card Scheme pursuits to assess the nutrient reputation of soil and provide customized recommendations for nutrient management to farmers.
- Promotion of Precision Farming: Initiatives just like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) sell precision farming techniques, consisting of drip irrigation and fertigation, which permit more green use of fertilizers, along with urea, by delivering vitamins immediately to plant’ root zones.
Conclusion
- Modernizing the agriculture area by adding modern-day technology can gain farmers’ incomes in addition to the nation’s food and vitamins security while also being environment- friendly.
- The agricultural zone is ready to be taken over via science and technology to enhance output and performance in order that more people can be fed while growing greater food on much less land, but, this transition has to be inclusive.
Source: Indian Express