e-Governance for Agriculture in India
The Ministry of Agriculture’s, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) agreed to adopt the National e-Governance Program (NeGP) in the agricultural sector in Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries as a Mission Mode Project (A-MMP). The A-MMP is designed to meet the demands of farmers through the dissemination of pertinent information to the community and other associated stakeholders & services for assistance through the many distribution channels available in their area. They will be able to make sensible decisions with its help. The project was to be first implemented in the states of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala with a centralized portal for implementation and management of services. The targeted categories of agriculture to be brought under e-governance include the following:
  1. Information on pesticides, fertilizers and seeds
  2. Information on soil health
  3. Information on crops, farm machinery, and, training and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
  4. Information on forecasted weather and agro-met advisory
  5. Information on prices, arrivals, procurement points, and providing interaction platform
  6. Electronic certification for exports and imports
  7. Information on marketing infrastructure
  8. Monitoring implementation/evaluation of schemes and programs
  9. Information on fisheries
  10. Information on irrigation infrastructure
  11. Drought relief and management
  12. Livestock management
Agricultural Information System Network (AGRISNET) is a component under the scheme titled ”Strengthening/promoting agricultural informatics & communications” under the Ministry of agriculture. The goal of the AGRISNET project is to build a long-term data bank of all agricultural inputs in the states containing entries for all necessary information on Agriculture and its linked fields and to gain access to them via a secure network. The project aims to link all agricultural offices up to the Block level with the state Department of Agriculture for improving information access as well as to provide advisory services to the farmers and related sectors through the usage of ICT.
As a result, e-agriculture refers to a new discipline that focuses on improving agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication systems. E-agriculture, to be precise, entails the creation, design, development, testing, and implementation of novel ways to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) with a primary focus on agriculture, in the rural domain (K. Venkateshwara Rao).
According to the Government of India’s Planning Commission’s Agricultural Strategy for the Eleventh Plan, the aim of 4% growth in agriculture can only be accomplished if land and water are fixed. Increasing the productivity per unit of scarce natural resources can only be achieved by putting better technologies to work. It is planned to use a variety of distribution methods, including Rural Knowledge Centers (RKCs), ICT-based delivery, farmer-to-farmer extension, non-governmental organizations, and the commercial sector (Behera et al., 2015).
Under the National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology, the Indian government wants to grow, enhance, and implement the Sub Mission on Agricultural Extension (NMAET). The NMAET’s approval assures that all of the Department of Agriculture Cooperation’s (DAC) IT programmes are compliant with the Mission. In addition, the Mission Mode Project of the National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A) was launched in order to promote rapid growth in the agricultural sector through the use of ICT.
Stakeholders, particularly farmers, can access this project’s services through a variety of channels, including government offices, kiosks, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Kisan Call Centers, Agri Clinics, Common Service Centers, and web/mobile applications. All of these services particularly belong to the G2C model of e-governance. Aside from that, they can use the project’s different Center and State Agriculture portals to access services. These portals ensure that processes are standardized and that data flows more smoothly. Data and Disaster Recovery Centers, block-level computer hardware components, project site preparation, project management software, development of various applications, customization, digitization, capacity building, and training and change management, among other things, are all included in the project. One of the project’s main goals is to discover and adopt the finest e-Governance practices across the country, as well as to upgrade them to include other types of applications in order to create a national platform that is adaptable for the states. Under the (AGRISNET) scheme, which falls under the Central Sector Scheme of ’Strengthening/Promoting of Agricultural Information System,’ the program provides financial assistance to all participating states for all development activities that are not covered under the NeGP-A. However, if farmers require financial support from the government of India, the states must conform to the AGRISNET scheme’s requirements.
The National e-Governance Plan for Agriculture is a Mission Mode Project funded by the federal government. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, Phase I of the project was implemented in seven different states around the country, in accordance with the 11th plan. The initiative has since been expanded to include the rest of the country’s 22 states, as well as the seven Union Territories.
Pesticide registration, seed testing results, prices, and arrival details, GIS-based systems for prices and arrival details, pesticide, fertilizer, and seed information, and district-level agro-met alerts are among the major services covered by the plan. Farmers can use two different strategies to benefit from this project’s services. The first strategy is through mobile applications. For this, various mobile applications have been developed. Some of them are Kisan Suvidha, Pusha Krishi, Crop insurance, Agri Market, and India Weather. The second way is through web applications. Some of the portals developed under this are Farmers’ Portal, mKisan portal, Crop insurance portal, and Participatory Guarantee System of India (PGS) portal. The various mobile applications and web applications aim to disseminate correct information to the farmers at the correct time like weather conditions for upcoming days, availability of markets, information on crop insurance, etc (Thomas, 2022).
With respect to organic farming, the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of agriculture and Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC) launched the ‘JAIVIK Kheti’ portal to promote organic farming globally. It is a one-stop portal where farmers can sell their organic products as well as promote organic farming and its benefits. It is an e-commerce portal as well as knowledge-sharing platform. Various case studies, videos, best farming practices, success stories, and other information on organic farming are a part of the knowledge repository. The e-commerce portal offers a whole range of organic produce for selling purposes due to which buyers can benefit by availing the organic products at cheaper rates at their doorstep. For the overall development and promotion of organic farming, the portal links stakeholders like regional councils, local groups, farmers, buyers, government agencies, and input suppliers. There are options of forward auction, price-quantity bidding, book building, and reverse auction mechanism for giving farmers the best option to get the best prices for their products which involves their efforts and hard work ((Jaivik Kheti, 2022). The Jaivik Kheti portal not only fits into the G2C model due to the transmission of information from the government to citizens, but also under G2B due to its setup for sale of agricultural products to farmers. The exchange of information between different government departments also makes it fit for the G2G model.
In the private sector, ITC has played a major role through e-governance in the upliftment of small and marginal farmers through the e-Choupal model. It is termed as one of the most successful system. In a ground-breaking step, ITC established e-Choupals, village internet kiosks that provided real-time, up-to-date, relevant information on weather, price discovery, Agri know-how and best practices, and other topics. The kiosks are staffed by qualified local farmers who assist the agricultural community in obtaining information in their own tongue. Farmers have been able to increase output, improve quality, control risk, and earn better prices by having suitable knowledge and services available virtually at the farm gate. e-Choupal minimizes transaction costs and assists farmers in fine-tuning crop varieties and qualities to shifting trends by developing a more efficient marketing channel. e-Choupal, India’s largest internet-based rural intervention, has evolved into an ecosystem of services that cater to a wide range of rural needs, from Agri-extension and other farm-related services to retail outlets, insurance, and healthcare (ITC e-Choupal - Empowering Indian Farmers, 2022).