Executive Summary:
The Government of India is implementing various initiatives to familiarize farmers with digital agriculture, including technologies like sensors, drones, and precision irrigation. These efforts involve awareness programs through mass media, extension services, and AI-powered chatbots. The aim is to improve crop yield and quality by disseminating information and providing financial assistance for technology adoption.
Key Points / Main Content:
Awareness Programs:
* Mass Media Support: Utilizes DD Regional Kendra, DD Kisan, and All India Radio for awareness and dissemination of scheme benefits, including audio-visual spots and social media platforms.
* Extension Reforms (ATMA Scheme): Implemented in 740 districts across 28 states and 5 UTs, supporting farmer-friendly extension systems through training, demonstrations, and farm schools.
Digital Tools and Technologies:
* Kisan eMitra: AI-powered chatbot assisting farmers with queries on the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, supporting 11 regional languages.
* National Pest Surveillance System: Uses AI and Machine Learning to detect pest infestations, enabling timely interventions; currently supports 61 crops and over 400 pests.
* Drone Promotion: Financial assistance of 100% of the cost of drone up to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakhs per drone for purchase and demonstration of drones. ICAR has procured 296 drones and organized 27114 demonstrations with 315648 farmers participating.
Water Use Efficiency:
* Per Drop More Crop (PDMC): Focuses on enhancing water use efficiency through micro-irrigation systems, providing financial assistance of 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for other farmers.
Impact Analysis:
Farmers:
* Impact: Increased awareness and access to digital agriculture technologies, potentially leading to improved crop yields, reduced losses, and enhanced income.
* Action Required: Participate in training programs, demonstrations, and utilize available digital tools like Kisan eMitra and the National Pest Surveillance System.
State Governments:
* Impact: Supported in their efforts to modernize agriculture through the ATMA scheme and other centrally sponsored programs.
* Action Required: Implement and promote extension activities, disseminate information about available technologies and schemes, and facilitate farmer participation.
Agricultural Institutions (ICAR, KVKs, SAUs):
* Impact: Key players in promoting drone usage through demonstrations and training.
* Action Required: Procure drones, conduct demonstrations, and provide training to farmers on the use of drones in agriculture.
Extension Workers:
* Impact: Empowered with tools like the National Pest Surveillance System to assist farmers in pest management.
* Action Required: Utilize the National Pest Surveillance System to detect and mitigate pest infestations, and guide farmers on effective pest management strategies.
Key Entities Referenced
Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: A department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, responsible for policies and programs related to agriculture and farmers' welfare.
Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension: A Central Sector Scheme implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAFW) to create awareness and disseminate scheme benefits among the farming community across the country.
All India Radio: A national radio broadcaster in India, utilized under the Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension scheme for wider publicity of department schemes.
Doordarshan: An autonomous public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, utilized under the Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension scheme for wider publicity of department schemes.
ATMA Scheme: A Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms) implemented in 740 districts of 28 states and 5 UTs to promote a decentralized and farmer-friendly extension system.
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi: A government scheme to provide income support to small and marginal farmers.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research: An autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.
Per Drop More Crop: A Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Department of Agriculture Farmers Welfare (DAFW) focusing on enhancing water use efficiency at the farm level through Micro Irrigation.
O.I.H.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 390
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22ND JULY, 2025
AWARENESS PROGRAMMES FOR FARMERS ON DIGITAL AGRICULTURE
390. SHRI UJJWAL RAMAN SINGH:
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण म(cid:287)ं ी
be pleased to state:
(a) the measures being taken by the Government to familiarise farmers with digital
agriculture, including the use of technologies such as sensors, drones, and precision
irrigation systems to help to improve the yield and quality of their crops;
(b) the details of awareness programmes being conducted by the Government for
farmers in this regard, State-wise, and
(c) the time by which the farmers will become proficient in digital agriculture?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)
(a) to (c): The Government has taken various steps to familiarise farmers with digital
agriculture, including the use of technologies such as sensors, drones, and precision
irrigation systems to help improve the yield and quality of their crops. Some of these are
given below:
I. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing a
Central Sector Scheme "Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension" through
DD Regional Kendra, DD Kisan and All India Radio to create awareness and
dissemination of scheme benefits among the farming community across the
Country, including agri-based entrepreneurs in India. Under the scheme, 18 DD
Regional Kendras, 97 FM stations of AIR and DD Kisan are being utilized for
wider publicity of department schemes, on-going initiatives, policy decisions,
advisories etc. In addition, Audio-Visual spots are being used to broadcast and
telecast information about the DA&FW schemes through Doordarshan (DD), All
India Radio (AIR), private TV and radio channels as a part of 'Focused Publicity
and Awareness Campaign'. In addition to the above, publicity & awarenesscampaigns are also carried out through Outdoor Publicity as well as through print
media advertisements in leading newspapers across the country. The social
media platforms viz. Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, LinkedIn,
Whatsapp, Public App, etc. are also being used for better outreach and wider
publicity about the details of Farmers Welfare Schemes of the Department.
II. Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms (ATMA) Scheme,
a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, is presently being implemented in 740 districts of
28 states & 5 UTs in the country. The scheme promotes a decentralized and
farmer-friendly extension system in the country. The objectives of the Scheme is
to support State Government's efforts and to make available the latest agricultural
technologies and good agricultural practices in different thematic areas of
agriculture and allied areas including digital agriculture to farmers through different
extension activities viz; Farmers Training, Demonstrations, Exposure Visits, Kisan
Mela, Mobilization of Farmers Groups and organizing Farm Schools etc. State-
wise details of farmers benefited through different extension activities under the
scheme during the last three years are enclosed at Annexure-I
III. ‘Kisan e-Mitra’ is a voice-based AI-powered chatbot developed to assist farmers
with responses to their queries on the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. This
solution supports 11 regional languages and is evolving to assist with other
government programs. At present, it handles over 20,000 farmer queries daily,
and so far, more than 95 lakh queries have been answered.
IV. The National Pest Surveillance System, for tackling the loss of produce due to
climate change, utilizes AI and Machine Learning to detect pest infestation in crop
issues, enabling timely intervention for healthier crops. This tool, currently used by
over 10,000 extension workers, allows farmers to capture images of pests to help
them mitigate pest attacks and reduce crop losses. At present, it supports 61
crops and over 400 pests.
V. To promote use of drones in agriculture, and Demonstration of newly developed
agricultural/ horticultural/crop residue management machines post-harvest
technologies under SMAM, financial assistance @ 100% of the cost of drone up to
a maximum of Rs. 10 lakhs per drone is provided for its purchase and
demonstration on the farmers' fields by the institutes under Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR), Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes, Krishi
Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), State and other
Central Government Agricultural Institutions/Departments and Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) of Government of India engaged agricultural activities. Thegovernment has provided funds of Rs. 5250 lakhs for the procurement of 300
Kisan drones to the ICAR. The ICAR institutes to date have procured 296 Kisan
drones, and organized 27114 Drones Demonstrations for the awareness and
familiarization with the use of Drones in Agriculture and a total of 315648 farmers
from different states participated in the demonstration programmes. The details
are attached in Annexure II.
VI. Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing the
Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) in the Country from
2015-16. PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at the farm level
through Micro-Irrigation, namely Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems. The Micro
Irrigation helps in water saving as well as reducing fertilizer usage through
fertigation, labour expenses, other input costs and overall income enhancement of
farmers. The Government provides financial assistance @ 55% for small and
marginal farmers and @ 45% for other farmers for the installation of Drip and
Sprinkler systems under the PDMC.Annexure-I
DETAILS OF FARMERS BENEFITTED UNDER A.T.M.A. SCHEME FROM 2022-23 TO
2024-25
SL.
States/UTs 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Total
No.
1 Andhra Pradesh 28103 37553 1636 67292
2 Bihar 395982 574595 222698 1193275
3 Chhattisgarh 114488 19623 69587 203698
4 Goa 6271 14449 8137 28857
5 Gujarat 384771 140042 121084 645897
6 Haryana 50606 25320 5674 81600
7 Himachal Pradesh 15784 42925 41555 100264
8 Jammu & Kashmir 24215 24162 68128 116505
9 Jharkhand 44912 40447 45759 131118
10 Karnataka 260928 140256 154268 555452
11 Kerala 107649 107174 39425 254248
12 Maharashtra 436346 456013 415544 1307903
13 Madhya Pradesh 186507 375572 67883 629962
14 Orissa 84526 40607 135199 260332
15 Punjab 73614 64048 61659 199321
16 Rajasthan 246830 20403 455016 722249
17 Telangana 4260 311 6067 10638
18 Tamil Nadu 488331 520316 776503 1785150
19 Uttar Pradesh 470492 602577 619101 1692170
20 Uttarakhand 53890 46775 54273 154938
21 West Bengal 298899 177855 236498 713252
22 Assam 40025 40845 51577 132447
23 Arunachal Pradesh 56682 23000 60642 140324
24 Manipur 22776 5400 31950 60126
25 Meghalaya 16265 30585 28064 74914
26 Mizoram 7440 3558 4713 15711
27 Nagaland 58588 41571 60483 150007
28 Tripura 5592 14611 36436 56639
29 Sikkim 6576 7791 7809 22176
30 Delhi 5500 0 525 6025
31 Puducherry 7146 10837 5981 23964
32 A&N 7641 9833 9811 27285
33 Ladakh 244 1535 740 2519
Total - 4011879 3660589 3904425 11566258Annexure-II
Details of State-wise, Numbers of demonstrations conducted, Area Covered through drone
demonstrations and beneficiary
Drone
S. Area Covered in Drone Total Farmers
State Demonstration
No. Demonstration (Ha) Participated (Nos.)
(Nos.)
1 Andhra Pradesh 1606 3191 13285
2 Arunachal Pradesh 1 5 40
3 Assam 482 291 11754
4 Bihar 2843 2176 6015
5 Chhattisgarh 1388 1424 21522
6 Gujarat 1348 587 2660
7 Haryana 2077 1234 51132
8 HP 800 906 13265
9 J&K 530 550 30330
10 Jharkhand 948 590 1004
11 Karnataka 1787 2818 14618
12 Kerala 1506 1867 12161
13 Madhya Pradesh 6079 4228 36269
14 Maharashtra 485 470 15778
15 Manipur 34 34 164
16 Meghalaya 82 94 1244
17 Mizoram 27 31 780
18 Nagaland 10 302 1463
19 Odisha 21 283 850
20 Punjab 368 405 4021
21 Rajasthan 780 744 23681
22 Sikkim 250 130 2750
23 Tamil Nadu 908 1399 9615
24 Telangana 263 1064 4764
25 Tripura 195 109 5932
26 Tripura 195 109 5932
27 UP 1052 1891 10139
28 Uttrakhand 383 321 1201
29 West Bengal 240 1773 8963
30 Delhi 426 500 4316
*******