The Centre will improve the farmer database from the present 5.5 crore to eight crore by December this 12 months with the help of states, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar mentioned on Monday. In a video convention with the state chief ministers, Tomar requested state governments to create a database for the state utilizing the federated farmer database ready by the central authorities and permit linkage to the state land document database.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has created a database of 5.5 crore farmers and it will likely be elevated to eight crore farmers by December 2021 with the assistance of state governments,” an official statement quoted Tomar saying in the conference.
Noting that agriculture has to be linked with digital technology, scientific research and knowledge, the minister emphasised that both the Centre and states must work together for agriculture to give a boost to the economy.
He also said with the establishment of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Mandis and start-ups will get loans easily. In the conference, digital agriculture and use of emerging technology for smart agriculture was discussed and the concept of farmers’ database was explained.
According to the statement, a national farmer database is being created by taking data from existing schemes like PM-KISAN, soil health card and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The database will have connectivity to the state land records database. Stating that there is an increase in farm exports, Union Food and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said, “India is emerging as a trusted export partner and there is further scope for improvement of agri-exports.”
He emphasised that the infrastructure must be strengthened for storage and warehousing. The goals of the convention have been to focus on the salient options of ‘Atmanirbhar Krishi’ (self-reliant agriculture sector) and to allow states to boost farmers’ revenue. It was additionally an event to share revolutionary initiatives undertaken by the states.
The dialogue with the states centred across the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund set as much as drive infrastructure funding. The latest modifications within the scheme have been defined the eligibility has been prolonged to APMCs, state businesses, nationwide and state federations of cooperatives, FPOs and self assist teams.
The eligible actions have been defined like group farming, property, post-harvest administration tasks and first processing. In the convention, the necessity to make India self-reliant in edible oils and palms was harassed and the position of the states was mentioned.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and the saturation of Kisan Credit Card for small and marginal farmers was additionally mentioned. Upgradation of the beneficiary database was emphasised.
There was dialogue on export of agriculture merchandise and the position of APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) in growing agriculture exports.
The states have been informed that APEDA will facilitate cluster centric capability constructing workout routines for state officers, FPOs, farmers, start-ups, and so on.
The first day of the two-day convention noticed the participation of Chief Ministers and Agriculture Ministers of States like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Goa.
Two junior Agriculture Ministers Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey have been amongst different senior officers current within the convention.
Read all of the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News right here