Centre, States Align to Scale AgriStack Nationwide

• National workshop held on AgriStack & AI in Agriculture in New Delhi
• Focus on scaling Farmer IDs, digital crop surveys by Kharif 2026
• AgriStack to integrate DBT, credit, insurance, inputs and procurement
• Centre–State coordination stressed for farmer-centric governance

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 29th Jan: The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare on Thursday organised a National Workshop on “AgriStack & AI in Agriculture: Now, Next & Beyond” at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi, bringing together Central and State officials to accelerate the rollout of AgriStack as India’s core Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture.

Held in follow-up to the 5th Conference of Chief Secretaries, the workshop focused on translating agreed national action points into time-bound implementation for building a smart, data-driven and farmer-centric agricultural ecosystem.

The deliberations centred on key action points, including saturation coverage of Farmers’ IDs, geo-referencing of agricultural land, and completion of Digital Crop Survey in all districts by Kharif 2026. Other priorities included dynamic updation of the Farmer Registry with changes in Records of Rights (RoR), and setting up dedicated AgriStack Commissionerates or Directorates supported by Project Management Units (PMUs) to ensure long-term institutional sustainability.

Participants also discussed integrating AgriStack across all sectors, schemes and services, including Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), agricultural inputs, credit, insurance, storage and procurement, positioning AgriStack as the digital backbone for farmer-centric governance.

Union Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi, said AgriStack is envisaged as a foundational, federated and interoperable digital infrastructure that will improve targeting, transparency and efficiency in agricultural service delivery. He underlined the importance of strong Centre–State coordination to achieve saturation and integration goals within stipulated timelines.

Senior officials including Ashish Bhutani, Union Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, and K.V. Shaji, Chairman, NABARD, highlighted the need for cross-sectoral convergence to enable efficient delivery of services to farmers using AgriStack.

An overview by Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary (Digital Agriculture), outlined progress under AgriStack and the strategic roadmap ahead, with emphasis on data quality, institutionalisation and scalability. He noted that AI-enabled solutions can deliver maximum value only when built on complete, current and trusted farmer and land datasets.

State-level use cases showcased during the workshop included transparent MSP-based procurement, smart fertiliser supply-chain governance, digital enablement of disaster relief, and efficient DBT delivery using AgriStack. These examples helped identify best practices and replicable models for adoption across the country.

The workshop concluded with an open house discussion, enabling State representatives to share feedback and implementation challenges. Delivering the vote of thanks, Shri Ravi Ranjan Singh, Director (Digital Agriculture), reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting States in implementing the agreed action points to realise the vision of inclusive, data-driven and technology-enabled agricultural development.