Role of Science and technology in agriculture

 Q) Critically analyse the usage of e- Technology to address agriculture stress in India. ( 200 words)

Answer:-

1. The government is implementing a Mission Mode Project-National e-Governance Plan–Agriculture (NeGP-A) for helping farmers access information related to the latest technology.
2. 12 clusters of services have been identified for the project. Dissemination of Information to the farmers has been aimed through various delivery channels including Common Service Centres, Web Portals, SMSs and Kisan Call Centres, Mobile Apps, etc.
3. Many important Portals have been developed under NeGP-A such as:

• mKisan Portal to enable Officers, Scientists, and Experts from all Organizations and Departments of the GoI and State Governments (including State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), KrishiVigyanKendras (KVKs) and Agro – Meteorological Field Units (AMFUs) all over the country for disseminating information regarding agricultural activities to registered farmers.
• Farmers’ Portal has been developed to serve as One-Stop-Shop for all the farmers for accessing the information on agricultural activities.
• Farmers can get information about the package of practices; crop/seed varieties; common pests; dealer network for seeds, fertilizers & pesticides; machinery and tools; agro-met advisories, etc.
• Soil Health Card Portal has been developed for registration of Soil samples, recording test results of soil samples, and generation of Soil Health Card (SHC) along with fertilizer recommendations.
• Besides other Portal such as Crop Insurance Portal, PGS Portal, Agmarket Portal have been developed to provide information to farmers.
• Also, the Department had developed mobile applications for information on Hail Storm, Crop Insurance, Agri Market, etc.
• The government has also launched mobile Apps like KisanSuvidha, PUSA KRISHI to help farmers by providing relevant information on weather, input dealers, market price, plant protection, expert advisories, and the latest technologies, etc.
• Under Market Research and Information Network (MRIN) Scheme, market information, on prices and arrivals of agricultural commodities in wholesale markets is disseminated to farmers and other stakeholders.
• A scheme for setting up of National Agriculture Market (NAM) through the Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) was approved by the Government with a budget of Rs.200 crore.
• NAM software has been launched by Prime Minister (April 2016) for trade-in 25 agri-commodities. This will provide transparency in trading, price commensurate to the quality real-time price discovery based on actual supply and demand. 
• The farmers in the country are not deprived of weather information. Farmers in the country are provided with weather information along with advisories through different modes of communication like AIR, TV, Print media, private TV channels, SMS, and IVR technology using mobile phones.
• The Government has introduced several latest information technology initiatives to provide weather information to the farmers. Under modernization plan, Earth System Science Organization-India Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD) has installed Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Agro-AWS throughout the country.
• In addition to the above, satellite data received through KALPANA and INSAT 3A, INSAT 3D geostationary satellite data are extensively used in weather forecasting.
• Also, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research created a network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in the selected KVKs and State Agricultural Universities under the National Initiative on Climatic Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project.
• Hosting of a dedicated website for continuous online monitoring of instant weather data across the locations; preparation and dissemination of micro-level weather-based agro-advisories to farmers.
• Under the “GraminKrishiMausamSewa (GKMS)” Project, Earth System Science Organisation-India Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD) is providing SMS based alert system particularly for extreme events like a cyclone, unusual rainfall hailstorm, etc., for the benefit of the farmers in the country.
• The Government has also launched the Nowcast-Extreme weather Alert services to farmers for providing localized Extreme Weather Warnings through SMSs,( to more than 1.8 crore farmers registered on mKisan Portal). Wind and also Agromet Advisories are sent to farmers twice a week.