The government on Tuesday said it has rolled out multiple initiatives to promote sustainable farming practices and expand digital services aimed at enhancing farm incomes and strengthening climate resilience across the country.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur outlined several schemes being implemented under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and other central programmes to improve productivity, water use efficiency, mechanisation and digital infrastructure in agriculture.
Under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, a number of schemes have been introduced to promote sustainable agricultural practices. These include the Per Drop More Crop programme, which seeks to increase water use efficiency at the farm level through micro-irrigation technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.
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Rainfed Area Development focuses on integrated farming systems to enhance productivity and minimise risks associated with climatic variability. The Soil Health and Fertility scheme promotes integrated nutrient management through judicious use of chemical fertilisers.
Other programmes, including the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, agroforestry initiatives and the National Bamboo Mission, also aim to promote climate resilience in agriculture.
To provide financial support to farmers affected by crop loss or damage due to natural calamities, the government is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the weather index-based Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme, the minister said.
The Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization has been implemented since 2014-15 through state and union territory governments, including Tamil Nadu. The scheme is now part of the centrally sponsored Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and aims to improve access to farm mechanisation among small and marginal farmers, including women.
The programme focuses on setting up custom hiring centres, creating hubs for high-technology and high-value farm equipment, distributing agricultural machines on subsidy and conducting demonstration and capacity-building activities.
Between 2014-15 and 2025-26, central funds amounting to 94.04 billion rupees were released to various states. During this period, 2,161,202 machines were distributed to individual farmers on subsidy, while 27,554 custom hiring centres, 646 high-tech hubs and 25,608 farm machinery banks were established.
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With these interventions, farm power availability for various operations increased from 1.73 kilowatts per hectare in 2013-14 to 2.49 kilowatts per hectare in 2018-19, the government said.
The Prime Minister Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, was formally launched on Oct. 11, 2025 to cover 100 districts. The scheme aims to enhance agricultural productivity, promote crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, strengthen post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate access to short-term and long-term credit.
The scheme is being implemented through convergence of 36 existing schemes across 11 departments, along with other state schemes and partnerships with the private sector.
Alongside these initiatives, the government is working to develop digital infrastructure for agriculture under the Digital Agriculture Mission.
The mission envisages the creation of a digital public infrastructure for agriculture, including AgriStack, the Krishi Decision Support System, a comprehensive soil fertility and profile map and other information technology initiatives aimed at building a robust digital ecosystem.
AgriStack consists of three foundational databases, including geo-referenced village maps, crop sown registry and the farmers registry, all created and maintained by state governments and union territories.
As of Feb. 4, 2026, more than 84.8 million farmer IDs had been generated across the country, the minister said.
These farmer IDs enable integration of direct benefit transfer schemes such as PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, crop insurance, minimum support price-based procurement, access to credit delivery, input distribution and disaster relief.
The Digital Crop Survey provides plot-level visibility of crops and improved estimation of sowing patterns, supporting evidence-based planning for procurement, input supply and logistics.
The Krishi Decision Support System integrates satellite imagery, weather, soil and crop data using geographic information systems to support agricultural planning and targeted advisories.
AI tools and seed tracking platforms
The government said it has also deployed artificial intelligence-based tools for farmer support.
Kisan e-Mitra, a voice-based chatbot, assists farmers with queries related to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in 11 regional languages. It currently handles more than 8,000 queries daily, with over 9.5 million questions answered so far.
The National Pest Surveillance System uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect pest infestations, enabling timely intervention. The platform supports 65 crops and over 400 pests and is used by more than 10,000 extension workers.
Farmers can upload images of pests to help mitigate attacks and reduce crop losses.
In addition, the Seed Authenticity Traceability and Holistic Inventory platform, known as SATHI, has been introduced to streamline seed production, quality certification, distribution and traceability across the country, establishing a National Seed Grid that integrates seed stakeholders on a unified digital platform.
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