With the support of state governments, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said the Centre will increase the farmer database from the current 5.5 crore, created by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, to 8 crore by December 2021. Tomar asked state governments to create a database for the state using the federated farmer database prepared by the central government and allow linkage to the state land record database.
Noting that agriculture has to be linked with digital technology, scientific research and knowledge, the minister emphasised that both the Centre and states must work together for agriculture to give a boost to the economy. He also said with the establishment of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Mandis and start-ups will get loans easily.
According to him, a national farmer database is being created by taking data from existing schemes like PM-KISAN, soil health card and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The database will have connectivity to the state land records database. Meanwhile, stating that there is an increase in farm exports, Union Food and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said ‘India is emerging as a trusted export partner and there is further scope for improvement of agri-exports’. He emphasised that the infrastructure needs to be strengthened for storage and warehousing.
