Parliament Question: Integration of digital land records with agricultural schemes

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 364 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27/03/2026 INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL LAND RECORDS WITH AGRICULTURAL SCHEMES *364. SMT. SULATA DEO: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE be pleased to state: (a) whether the Ministry proposes to introduce integration of digital land records with agricultural schemes in Odisha to ensure transparency in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT); and (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN) (a) & (b): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 364 DUE FOR REPLY ON 27/03/2026 REGARDING INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL LAND RECORDS WITH AGRICULTURAL SCHEMES (a) & (b): Yes, Odisha is utilizing digital land records of farmers for the purpose of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under various agricultural schemes. Odisha has operationalized the integration of digital land records, i.e., the Bhulekh database, with agricultural schemes in the State. The land records in the State are digitized and maintained by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Govt. of Odisha, in the Bhulekh portal. The State of Odisha has informed that the digitized land record database of the State is used for identification of landholding categories (such as small and marginal farmers) under the State Sector farmers’ welfare scheme, i.e. CM KISAN. Further, the State Farmers Registry under AgriStack, built using the Record of Rights in the state of Odisha covers landholding farmers, livestock and fisheries farmer, and provides them with a digital identity, called Farmer ID. It has been designed to integrate and validate farmer- related data. This helps enable accurate identification of eligible beneficiaries and helps enable Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the farmers with enhanced transparency, and efficient delivery of scheme benefits. Odisha has linked the AgriStack to register new farmers under the PM KISAN scheme. Under both CM KISAN and PM KISAN schemes, financial assistance is transferred directly to the bank accounts of eligible farmers through DBT mode. The State also captures digitized land record information at the time of farmer registration / Krushak Odisha (the State’s own farmer database) at the time of farmer registration. These records are subsequently used for DBT of various benefits, including seed input subsidy and need- based input assistance, to the farmers across the State. During the release of 22nd installment of PM Kisan in Odisha, 34,18,193 beneficiaries received benefit of scheme amounting to 683.64 cr. The total amount disbursed till date through DBT for the farmers in Odisha under PM-KISAN is Rs.14,486.34 crores. Further, the Digital Crop Survey, i.e., survey to digitally capture crops being grown on every farmland in the country with photos and geo-tags, has enabled plot-level visibility of crops and better estimation of areas sown across seasons, which in turn supports evidence-based planning for production estimation, procurement, input supply and logistics management. In Kharif 2025, the Digital Crop Survey (DCS) has been conducted in 604 Districts covering more than 28.5 crores plots, including 2.56 crores plots in Odisha. *****