TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE THROUGH DIGITALISATION

INDIAN AGRICULTURE has long been a central area of focus for a range of policy initiatives.

- Amit Kapoor & Vidhi Tiwari

The agriculture sector’s contribution to India’s GDP has declined over the years, from about 50 per cent at the time of independence to around 15 per cent in 2022-23. Despite this decline, agriculture remains an important socio-economic sector as it ensures food security and remains a key driver of employment in India. The urgency to introduce reforms to the agricultural ecosystem stems from many reasons. There are structural issues such as the predominance of small landholdings – comprising nearly 86 per cent of the total landholding as per the Agricultural Statistics released in 2022, seasonal unemployment, skill gaps, and adapting to climate change. The sector poses a conundrum: Although agriculture provides livelihood to more than 42 per cent of the population, it contributes a little over 18 per cent to the GDP. Over the years, India has attempted to resolve this challenge utilising different means.

Digitalisation is rapidly gaining momentum, with various sectors exploring better integration strategies; agriculture is no exception. Reforming agriculture with digitalisation has received significant emphasis, as seen in the Economic Survey and the Union Budget this year. So far, the Indian experience has generated positive outcomes in deploying digital solutions and has led to the emergence of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) approach. For instance, incorporating DPI has led to a total savings of $33 billion by 2022, equivalent to 1.14 per cent of the GDP. This goes to show DPI’s potential to elevate agriculture from an underperforming economic activity to a sustainable ecosystem with considerable productivity and incentives.