Odisha to receive incentives under Special Central Assistance Scheme of Government of India, upon completion of Milestones in Digital Crop Survey & Farmers’ Registry

• Will receive incentive of Rs.100 crore for successful implementation of Digital Crop Survey & Rs. 55.48 crore for creation of Farmers’ Registry

Bhubaneswar- 2025 : In a significant milestone for Odisha in its digital agriculture journey, Govt. of India has formally assessed and approved Odisha’s proposals under the Special Central Assistance (SCA), declaring the State eligible for incentives for both components of AgriStack – a Digital Public Infrastructure initiative for Agriculture, with Rs 55.48 crore for achieving the first milestone of the Farmers’ Registry and Rs 100 crore for successful implementation of the Digital Crop Survey. This recognition reflects Odisha’s strong compliance with national standards, timely achievement of coverage milestones, and effective execution at scale, reinforcing the State’s leadership in adopting data-driven, farmer-centric digital reforms.

The Farmer Registry provides an authenticated, verified database of farmers, enabling accurate beneficiary identification for schemes such as PM-KISAN, CM Kisan, crop insurance, etc. The Digital Crop Survey offers geo-referenced plot-wise crop sown information helping the State prepare realistic area and production estimates, procurement plans and other scheme delivery to targeted farmers. Together, the FR and DCS answer who the farmer is, where the land is, and what crop is grown, forming the backbone for scheme delivery.

Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Energy Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo stated that, this is a proud moment, reflecting Odisha’s vision of making agriculture more transparent, efficient, and prosperous. He has urged the Department to leverage these tools to script a new chapter of growth and sustainability in Odisha’s agrarian economy. He has congratulated the team in Agriculture Department, all technical personnel involved in the initiative, and the farmers of Odisha on this historic achievement!

Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee said on this achievement that, the AgriStack approval will revolutionize data-driven farming, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and prosperity. “Odisha is poised to script a new chapter of growth with these digital tools. Since Agriculture is central to livelihoods, procurement, and input distribution in Odisha, both FR and DCS would play a critical in shifting from estimate-based planning to verified, plot-level, evidence-based decision-making across production, procurement, and markets”, said Dr Padhee. Further, integration with weather, soil, pest, and price data would enable predictive analytics for production forecasting, issue of advisories, pest alerts, and price trends.

Team Maverick.