Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: The Goa government has begun implementing the Agristack – Digital Agriculture Project under the Digital Agriculture Mission to create a centralized digital system for farmer records and agricultural data management.
Responding to an Unstarred Legislative Assembly Question tabled by Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao, Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Pramod Sawant informed the House that the project is currently under implementation in the state.
According to the government, a state-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary has been constituted to oversee the implementation of the Agristack initiative. An MoU has also been signed with the Government of India for executing the project.
As part of the initial phase, a digital crop survey has been carried out on a pilot basis in three villages in Goa. The government is also collecting land records data from the Department of Land Records to assign unique farm IDs to land parcels.
The state government further stated that it plans to store farmers’ data on a cloud-based system, and the process of setting up a Project Management Unit by onboarding a consultant is underway.
On infrastructure for farm equipment, the government clarified that there are currently no government-run centres for the purchase of agricultural tools, equipment or machinery. However, farmers can buy equipment from department-registered dealers and suppliers in order to avail government subsidies.
Details of various farmer schemes, subsidies for tools and fencing, and the list of empanelled suppliers have been provided in the annexures submitted to the Assembly, the government added.
