ICT in Agriculture

India is known as an IT superpower but ironically, the tremendous progress made by the IT sector has largely managed to bypass the domain of agriculture in India during the last three decades. There is a humongous potential for Information and Communication Technology in Agriculture to enhance the efficiency of farming operations, monitoring of diseases and pests, price discovery, farm advisories, resource management and market connectivity, which can expeditiously escalate farm profitability. ICT will play an important role in translating Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of empowering farmers into action by connecting them with programs, schemes, subsidies and markets.

Indian Council of Food and Agriculture has constituted a National Working Group on ICT for Agriculture, which will be launched on Tuesday, the 4th of July at India International Center, New Delhi at the IT Industry CEOs Conclave by the renowned scientist, Prof MS Swaminathan.

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"Having regard to such pivotal importance, ICFA has taken the initiative to launch a Working Group to support the north east in its endeavor to contribute to the economic resurgence of the home region as well as to the development of the rest of the country".

Dr M Moni
Dr M Moni, Chairman, Former DG, NIC

The working group, chaired by Dr M Moni, former DG- NIC, will be a holistic alliance of policymakers, agricultural scientists, extension specialists, industry and progressive farmers to address the magnitude of challenges and facilitate a comprehensive growth of ICT in agriculture. It will have the mandate to act as a coordinator across stakeholders for a meaningful and impactful intervention. The forum will follow up on important recommendations with concerned national and international agencies; facilitate farmer’s sensitization; promote ICT applications for farmers’ empowerment and international collaborations. The CEOs Conclave chaired by Dr Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Mr Amit Bhardwaj
Mr Amit Bhardwaj, Convener, CEO,Level A Commodities

Eminent Members

  • Dr Vivek M Damle, Chairman & MD, SkillNet Solutions India
  • Dr Venkatesh Devanur , Managing Director , Agri Life Technologies
  • Mr Gaurav Vats, Senior Manager ICT, ISAP Sunil Khairnar
  • Mr Pravin Khandelwal, Director, Vega Energies
  • Dr Villoo M Patell , Chairman & CEO , Avesthagen Limited - Ava Seeds
  • Dr Pooja Jain, Assistant Professor & Training and Placement (Faculty Coordinator) , IIIT Kota
  • Mr Kunal Prasad, Co-Founder & COO, CropIn Technology Solutions
  • Dr Ruma Shukla , Associate Vice-President, Vayam Technologies Ltd
  • Mr Dharmesh Verma, Head Remote Sensing, Agri Net Solutions
  • Dr Harekrishna Misra, Professor IT Systems, Institute of Rural Management
  • Prof SD Samantaray , Professor, GB Pant University
  • Dr KM Shivakumar, Professor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
  • Mr Asitava Sen, Senior Agribusiness Advisor, IFC South Asia
  • Mr Pankaj Agarwal, Managing Director , Treta Agro (Just Organik)
  • Mr Abhishek Goyal, Co-Founder, Agro Connect
  • Ms Shweta Gupta, Director, PESTOZ
  • Mr Suhel Bidani , Team ICT Agriculture, Gates Foundation
  • Dr Ranvir Singh, Sr GM (Organic Farming), International Panaacea Limited
  • Mr Ashish Gupta, Global Organic Ambassador, Ifoam-OI
  • Mr Amit Kalkal, Director, Agri Innovation
  • Dr Sandeep Chatterjee, CEO, Shuvgray LLC, USA
  • Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, 5F World & NASSCOM Foundation
  • Mr Ramesh Deshpande,, CEO, International Agriculture Group
  • Dr A Natarajan , Principal Scientist, NBSS&LUP
  • Dr Mohammad Rais, NISTADS, CSIR, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research
  • Dr Brijendra Pateriya , Director, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre
  • Mr Ravindra W Shevade, COO - NeML, NCDEXSPOT
  • Ms Nancy J Anabel, Director Communication, MSSRF
  • Dr H Chandrasekar , Principal Scientist, IARI
  • Mr Ibrahim Ahmad, Group Editor, CyberMedia (I) Ltd
  • Mr Ami Meena, Co-Founder & Director, Grow Well Organic & Eco Products
  • Mr Bhagwan D Dubey, Promoter, Jayi Innovative Solutions
  • Mr Jackson Jolly K , General Manager, Custom Weather

Objectives

  • To promote Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Food & Agricultural System for productivity increase in all production stages.
  • To develop Competency Development Programme for stakeholders for adoption of ICTs appropriately.
  • To undertake steps to operationalize ICT enabled supply-chain and value-chain models facilitating farming communities, especially small and marginal farmers.
  • To organize Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Brain-storming Sessions – national, regional, district level etc. - involving all Stakeholders for synthesizing ICT Working Models.
  • To promote Digital India Programme.
  • To network with NGOs working in Food and Agricultural Development Programmes.
  • To undertake promotion and impact study of on-going ICT projects (Digital Networks for Farmers) in the Food & Agriculture Sector.
  • To promote SMART Agriculture (Climate Resilient Agriculture) through Agricultural Resources Information System (AgRIS).
  • To undertake Demonstrable Pilot Projects through Sponsorship.
  • To establish National Centre for Information Technology in Agriculture (NCITA) through PPP Model.
  • To strengthen South – South Cooperation through ICT for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) Programme.
  • To promote Agricultural Informatics Research and Education through International Cooperation Programme.
  • To network with Asian Federation of IT in Agriculture (AFITA), European Federation of IT in Agriculture (EFITA), PAN America Federation of IT in Agriculture (PAN-AFITA), CTA (The Netherlands), CGIAR, FAO (UN), UNIDO, ADB, World Bank, USAID, African-Asia Rural Development Organization (AARDO), Global Forum for Farmers (GFF), European Union (EU), etc.

Terms of Referencce

  • Be a Think-Tank to forward think application and use of ICTs and information for further development of agriculture and agri-food systems in India.
  • Contribute to the formulation of policies, strategies, regulatory mechanisms and standards needed in India to effectively and efficiently use ICTs and information in agriculture and agri-food systems.
  • Contribute to the advocacy and capacity development in ICT development and use as also information management for agriculture growth and development.
  • Work with International, regional and national organizations in public, private and community sectors that can contribute to more effective use of ICTs and information in agriculture and agri-food systems.
  • Organize events and structure to advocate, build capacities and contribute to integrate information and information systems in India.
  • Promote and support effective use of information in agriculture and agri-food system.
  • Contribute to the education of the stakeholders about the benefits of the usage of ICT, including clear Return on Investment (ROI) analysis.
  • Form a National Organics and Traceability Platform to promote and support proper organics labeling.
  • Promote ICT enabled Certified Food & Agricultural Products Programme.
  • Undertake Project Consultancy on “ICT in Agriculture” in India and other Developing Countries.
  • Exchange views on a regular basis on developments and trends in ICT creating challenges and opportunities for Food Securities and Agriculture and allied sectors.
  • Promote best practices through ICT in Agriculture, Food security and Rural Development by undertaking joint interagency Projects, Missions and Studies.
  • Benchmark best practices, and prepare toolkit for monitoring and evaluation of best practices.
  • Encourage entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in the sector.
  • Identify supply chains and value chains for the sector and suggest stakeholders for sustainable agriculture corridors for optimization.
  • Design and implementation of comprehensive education system with entrepreneurship as its core deliverables.
  • Contribute to the policies aimed at sustainable development and role ICT in Agriculture with special emphasis on layers (Access, Distribution and Network).
  • Liaise with relevant global, regional and sub-regional bodies, who are working for ICT in Food security and Agriculture.
  • Undertake Capacity building in ICT enabled Agriculture and Rural Development through Short-term and Long-term courses in Universities, Skill Development Centers, etc.;.
  • Create a Multi-lingual Portal for on-line exchange of views among Stakeholders.

Action Plan for 2017-18

  • To promote Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Food & Agricultural System for productivity increase in all production stages.
  • Launching of ICFA Working Group on ICT in 2017.
  • Conducting of Competency Development Programme (2-week / 4-week) on e-Governance in Farming Sector.
  • Institutional Linkages with Academic Institutions who run Graduate and Post Graduate Programmes in Agricultural Informatics (ICT4Ag).
  • Organizing National Seminar on “Digitalization and Skill Development in Agricultural Sector”.
  • Initiation of “SMART Village” Projects – one in each State.
  • Promotion of Mobile and IoT based Application to automate Agricultural Information Flow System to e-bridging the Farmers and other stakeholders and also to promote ICT in Small Area farm business.
  • Networking of about 9000 Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centers (ACABCs) and 75000 Farmers Clubs to achieve “financial Inclusion” of small and marginal farmers.
  • Promotion of ICT enabled Supply-Chains and Value-Chains among Agricultural Stakeholders through “Access layer”, “Distribution layer” and “Network layer” through Model Projects.
  • Operationalization of Strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics through ICT enabled process from “Farm-Household” and “Farm-level”.
  • Capacity Building of Block level Officers of Agricultural Departments (Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture, Marketing, Animal husbandry and Fisheries etc), and Rural Development Departments, on Integrated Land Use Planning for sustainable agricultural and rural development.
  • Establishing “Development 2.0 in Food and Agriculture” in India by 2020 through TSP (Technology, Society and Policy) impact on the agricultural sector to the tune of USD 40 Billion – 80 Billion in 2025, as predicted by the McKinsey Global Research Report 2014.