National Conference on Agri Stack

Context:

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) organized the National Conference on Agri Stack: Turning Data into Delivery on June 14, 2025, at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi. The event marked a significant milestone in advancing India’s Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM), bringing together senior officials from the Centre and States, experts, and stakeholders to deliberate on progress, challenges, and the digital future of Indian agriculture.

Agri Stack Framework and Integrations

• Shri Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary (Digital), outlined Agri Stack’s scope:
  • Integration with key schemes: PM-KISAN, PMFBY, KCC.
  • Emphasis on geo-referencing, data quality, and compliance with Unified Farmer Service Interface (UFSI).
  • Introduction of Digitally Verifiable Credentials (DVCs) and Farmer Authorization Systems to ensure secure, authenticated data sharing.

Major Announcements and Collaborations

• MoUs signed with Maharashtra, Kerala, Bihar, Odisha, and the PSB Alliance for enabling credit access via Farmer Registry-linked authentication.
• Launch of Special Central Assistance (SCA) Guidelines:
  • Total allocation: ₹6,000 crore
  • For Farmer Registry (including legal heir integration)
  • For Digital Crop Survey (DCS)
  • Disbursement on first-come-first-served basis.

Key Technological Innovations

• DVC/Kisan Pehchan Patra:
  • Digitally authenticated land and crop credentials, linked with DigiLocker, revocable on land mutation.
• Launch of Unified Grievance Redressal Portal:
  • OTP login, multilingual support, and audio upload
  • Representative-based grievance lodging enabled
• Introduction of AI-powered Chatbot (trained on Agri Stack data via Google Gemini) for multilingual farmer support.
• Pilots underway for:
  • Crop recognition via AI
  • Facial authentication of surveyors
  • AI-based backend optimization

State-Level Best Practices and Feedback

• Maharashtra:
  • Enrolment in Farmer Registry across districts
  • Request for Data Provisioning Engine (DPE) and Mahavistaar AI sandbox
• Uttar Pradesh:
  • Use of Agri Stack in MSP e-procurement (2024)
  • Field feedback on DCS challenges
• Karnataka:
  • Integration of FRUITS platform with banks
  • Use in disaster relief, soil health integration

Technical Discussions and Challenges Identified

• Emphasis on:
  • Remote sensing, AI/ML, and auto-validation tools
  • DCS compliance and data standardization
• Challenges:
  • Outdated tribal land records
  • Errors in photo-based crop surveys
  • Data gaps and inconsistencies across States

PIB