The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved seven agricultural initiatives on Monday with a budget of ₹13,966 crore. These initiatives focus on building climate resilience and promoting sustainable farming practices, including the use of public-funded digital infrastructure and research on emerging challenges in the agricultural sector.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw provided details on these Cabinet decisions during a press briefing in Delhi on Monday.
As part of the Digital Agriculture Mission, which has a budget of ₹2,187 crore, the government plans to develop a mobile-based platform for farmers, similar to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), according to Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
This digital platform will be created using the agri stack, a comprehensive farmers’ database developed with data from the PM-KISAN cash-transfer program, which includes bank-verified records of landholdings for nearly 100 million farmers. Through the PM-KISAN program, every farming household receives ₹6,000 annually, distributed in three instalments of ₹2,000 every four months.
The agri stack, established during Modi’s previous administration, is continually updated to build a digital infrastructure for efficient service delivery. The newly approved unified farmer service platform aims to “digitize agricultural service delivery by public and private sectors,” an official stated.
The platform will provide a variety of information, including farmer registries, land maps, weather forecasts, and crop yield data for farm insurance, aiding agricultural companies and lenders in providing quicker services, Vaishnaw noted.
“For instance, in pilot programs where this platform was tested, the entire process from loan application to disbursal took only about 40 minutes,” Vaishnaw added. Due to readily available digital land records and Aadhaar-based identification in the agri stack, the process for obtaining farm credit is as swift as applying for digital consumer loans.
The platform will enable farmers to connect with buyers and sellers, access loans from scheduled banks, view their soil profiles, and estimate yields, enhancing efficiency and utility, according to a Cabinet statement. The development of the agri stack was first reported by HT on March 9, 2021, when it was in an experimental phase.
In line with its sustainable agriculture objectives, the Cabinet also approved a ₹3,979 crore program to prepare farmers and rural communities for climate change. Part of this funding will go towards increasing the productivity of pulses and oilseeds and managing plant genetics. India aims to eliminate its reliance on costly pulse imports by 2027, a key goal for the agricultural sector.
During the last financial year ending in March, pulse imports rose by 84% year-on-year to 4.65 million tonnes, the highest in six years. In value terms, spending on these imports increased by 93% to $3.75 billion, with major suppliers including Canada, Australia, Myanmar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, and Malawi.
Extreme weather conditions linked to climate change have adversely affected agricultural output in Asia’s third-largest economy, impacting crops like wheat and driving up prices. According to a recent RBI analysis, a series of “climate-related extreme weather” events and supply shocks have made high food inflation “endemic” since the latter half of 2019.
To address the impacts of climate change, the government aims to bolster agricultural research and education through a ₹2,291 crore program approved by the Cabinet. This initiative, led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), will update the agricultural curriculum in universities to better prepare students and researchers for challenges such as climate shocks, in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020.
Additionally, the Cabinet sanctioned a ₹1,702 crore program to enhance livestock genetics. The livestock sector contributes 30% of agriculture’s gross value added (GVA), a growth measure excluding net taxes. Data shows that, on average, farmers earn more from livestock than from crops alone.
The livestock initiative will focus on managing animal diseases, improving nutrition, and enhancing veterinary education.
The Cabinet also allocated ₹800 crore for a sustainable horticulture scheme to boost productivity in fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and spices, which are significant export commodities. Further funding of ₹1,202 crore and ₹115 crore was approved for modernizing Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which are farm resource centers, and for the efficient use of natural resources.
“Climate adaptation has become one of the biggest challenges for Indian agriculture. Adaptation technologies need to be developed swiftly. It can’t take years. Any mitigation efforts should involve collaboration with global agencies to expedite the process,” said TK Mani, a former faculty member at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
