CONTENTS

1. Digital Agriculture Mission
2. Poshan Tracker Initiative

Digital Agriculture Mission

Context:

Recently, the Union Cabinet Committee chaired by the Prime Minister Shri of India approved the Digital Agriculture Mission with an outlay of Rs. 2817 Crore, including the central share of Rs. 1940 Crore.

Relevance:

GS II: Government Policies and Intervention

Digital Agriculture Mission

• Established to advance digital initiatives in agriculture, this mission collaborates with various government bodies and academic institutions to develop a Digital Public Infrastructure and implement technologies like the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES).

Key Components of the Digital Agriculture Mission

• Digital Platforms Introduced:
  • AgriStack: A key component of the Digital Agriculture Mission, AgriStack includes databases such as the Farmers’ Registry, Geo-referenced Village Maps, and the Crop Sown Registry. These are managed by state or UT administrations.
  • Farmers’ Registry: Functions like a digital Aadhaar for farmers, linking real-time data on land ownership, crop details, and demographic information.
  • Crop Sown Registry: Tracks agricultural planting details via mobile-based surveys each cropping season.
  • Geo-referenced Village Maps: These maps integrate geographical data with physical land record locations.
• Krishi Decision Support System (DSS):
  • Functionality: Develops a unified geospatial framework that aggregates and analyzes data on crops, soil, climate, and water resources to aid in crop mapping, risk assessment of natural calamities, and yield estimation for insurance purposes.

Soil Profiling Efforts

• Soil Profile Maps: The mission plans to create detailed soil maps for approximately 142 million hectares of agricultural land, enhancing farming decisions and strategies with completed soil profiles already covering around 29 million hectares.

Poshan Tracker Initiative

Context:

Recently, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has received the National Award for e-Governance 2024 (Gold) for the Poshan Tracker initiative.

Relevance:

GS II: Government Policies and Interventions

Poshan Tracker Initiative

• The Poshan Tracker initiative aims to address nutritional challenges in children aged 0-6 by using WHO growth charts for real-time monitoring, ensuring children achieve optimal health outcomes.
• These workers are crucial in monitoring health developments and initiating interventions when growth anomalies are detected in children.
• Utilizes advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and Growth Measuring Devices (GMD) at each Anganwadi Center to enhance data accuracy and consistency in monitoring.
• Significant improvements in child health metrics have been observed nationwide under Mission Poshan 2.0 due to effective real-time growth tracking.

Features of the Poshan Tracker App

• Comprehensive Monitoring: Offers a comprehensive view of operations at Anganwadi Centers, managing services for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and young children.
• Digital Transformation: Converts traditional physical record-keeping into digital formats, streamlining processes and enhancing the quality of service delivery.
• Resource Allocation: Provides Anganwadi workers with smartphones purchased via the Government e-Market (GeM) to facilitate efficient service delivery.
• Support System: Includes the appointment of a nodal officer for each state to assist with technical issues and enhance the app’s functionality across regions.
• Accessibility for Migrant Workers: Ensures that migrant workers registered in one state can access services at the nearest Anganwadi center in their current location as per the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s directives.