Bhubaneswar: Dr.Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment has said that in a significant milestone in Odisha’s digital agriculture journey, the Government of India has formally assessed and approved the State’s proposals under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme, declaring Odisha eligible for incentives under both core components of AgriStack- the national Digital Public Infrastructure initiative for agriculture.
Odisha will receive an incentive of ₹55.48 crore for achieving the first milestone of the Farmers’ Registry (FR) and ₹100 crore for the successful implementation of the Digital Crop Survey (DCS). This recognition underscores the State’s strong compliance with national standards, timely achievement of coverage milestones, and effective large-scale implementation, reaffirming Odisha’s leadership in data-driven, farmer-centric digital reforms.
The Farmers’ Registry establishes an authenticated and verified database of farmers, enabling accurate identification of beneficiaries for schemes such as PM-KISAN, CM Kisan, crop insurance, and other welfare programmes. The Digital Crop Survey provides geo-referenced, plot-wise crop sown data, supporting realistic area and production estimates, procurement planning, and targeted delivery of schemes. Together, FR and DCS answer three fundamental questions- who the farmer is, where the land is, and what crop is grown—forming the backbone of transparent and efficient scheme delivery.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Energy, Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, described the achievement as a proud moment for the State. He said it reflects Odisha’s vision of making agriculture more transparent, efficient, and prosperous, and urged the Department to leverage these digital tools to script a new chapter of growth and sustainability in the State’s agrarian economy. He congratulated the Agriculture Department, all technical partners, and the farmers of Odisha on this historic accomplishment.
Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, said that the AgriStack approval would revolutionize data-driven governance in agriculture by ensuring greater transparency, efficiency, and inclusiveness.
“Odisha is poised to usher in a new era of growth with these digital tools. As agriculture is central to livelihoods, procurement, and input distribution in the State, the Farmers’ Registry and Digital Crop Survey will enable a shift from estimate-based planning to verified, plot-level, evidence-based decision-making across production, procurement, and markets,” Dr Padhee said.
He further added that integration of FR and DCS with weather, soil, pest, and price data would enable predictive analytics for production forecasting, issuance of advisories, pest alerts, and price trend analysis, significantly strengthening support to farmers.