A POLICY REVIEW ON INDIA'S DIGITAL AGRICULTURE MISSION IN BUILDING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

3rd International Conference on “The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture” (14th August, 2025) ABSTRACTS Edited & Compiled by Dr. S. Selva Anbarasu, Dr. S. Shanmugapackiam, Dr. P. Jaisankar, Dr. S. Lekha Priyanka PUSHKARAM COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE SCIENCES (Affiliated to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore) (Accredited by ICAR, New Delhi) Thiruvarankulam, Pudukkottai – 622 303. Website: www.pushkaram.in Title : 3rd International Conference on “The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture” Language : English Month & Year : 14th August 2025. Published by : Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India. Publisher : PUSHKARAM COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE SCIENCES (Affiliated to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Accredited by ICAR, New Delhi) Thiruvarankulam, Pudukkottai – 622 303. Printer’s Details : Jayam Printer’s, 3760, HMY Building South 4th Street, Pudukkottai – 622 001. Edition : First Copyright @ : Dr. S. Selva Anbarasu, Dr. S. Shanmugapackiam, Dr. P. Jaisankar, Dr. S. Lekha Priyanka, ISBN : BIBLIOGRAPHICAL - DATA PREFACE It gives me immense pleasure that I am part and parcel of the 3rd International Conference on “The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture” organized by National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Trichy and Pushkaram College of Agriculture Sciences, Pudukkottai on 14th August 2025. A total of 132 research papers were received. The Full length abstract of the papers were grouped under seven themes viz., Crop Management, Crop Improvement, Crop Protection, Social Sciences, Horticulture, Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Sciences. The conference was befittingly inaugurated by Hon’ble Director, Dr. R. Selvarajan, NRCB, Trichy. The Principal Dr. S. Raguraman delivered welcome address and the presidential speech. Dr. R. Rajkumar, Principal Scientist, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation delivered Felicitation. Dr. I. Ravi, Principal Scientist, NRCB, Trichy. Dr. V. Kanthaswamy, Professor and Former Dean, Department of Horticulture, PAJANCOA, Karaikal. Dr. M. V. Sriramachandra sekaran, Advisor National Agro Foundation, Chennai. Dr. T. Eevera, Associate Professor Department of Seed Science and Technology, TNAU, Coimbatore, delivered the special addresses. Dr. S. Selva Anbarasu proposed the vote of thanks. The objective of this conference is to provide a common platform to students, academicians, researchers and extension workers to exchange their views, ideas and experiences to promote agricultural production in India. As an organizer, we are very happy about the responses from the researchers and academicians by way of their participation in the conference. The researchers, particularly the young scientists and learned academicians were honored with appropriate awards in the conference. I acknowledge and appreciate the Vice Principal Dr. V. Shanthi, Professors, Dr. S.S. Baskar, Dr. K. Arumugam. Associate, and Assistant Professors Dr. S. Shanmugapackiam, Dr. P. Jaisankar, Dr. S. Lekha Priyanka, Dr. S. Sentharagai, Dr. S. Vinoth Kumar, Dr. K. Vadivel, Mrs. Dr. R. Lalitha, S. Saravana Priya, Mrs. Gajendhini, Mr. N. Prasanth, Ms. M. Ayisha Sidhika, Dr. V. Thirumal Kannan, Dr. C. Mohan Raj, Dr. R. Mary Ruby Shyla, Dr. D. Veerathilagam, Ms. M. Manickselvi, Ms. M. Jeyarani, Mrs. A. Maheswari, Ms. S. Kavin, Ms. R. Anusha, Mrs. S. Vinotha, Ms. S.N. Salma Banu, Mr. K. Selvakumar, Mr. N. Rajini, Mr. M. Loganathan, for their contribution. We hope the abstract of the conference in the form of a book will serve as a good source of reference in various fields of agriculture and allied sciences. We are very much indebted to our beloved Chairman of PCAS Lion. Dr. K. Rethinam, Managing Director, Dr. R. Durai, Co-Director Mr. K.K.R. Venkatesh, Secretary Mr. M. Rajaram, Manager Mr. R. Nepolian for their support, guidance and encouragement for the successful conduct of the conference. (Dr. S. Raguraman) 32. MODERN TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES ON PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT Sivaprasath S and Bharath R 168 33. ECOFRIENDLY MANAGEMENT OF LEAF BLIGHT OF RICE CAUSED BY Rhizoctonia solani KUHN, (Thanatephorus cucumeris S.Pitchaikumar 171 34. A POLICY REVIEW ON INDIA'S DIGITAL AGRICULTURE MISSION IN BUILDING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION G. Balaji1, D. Vengatesan2and M. Kavaskar3 177 35. ADVANCING CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE THROUGH POLICY-DRIVEN EXTENSION SYSTEMS AND INSIGHTS FROM INDIAN AND GLOBAL INITIATIVES FOR SCALABLE AND INCLUSIVE ADAPTATION G. Balaji1, D. Vengatesan2 and V. Sathiya Aravindan3 182 36. SIGNIFICANCE OF CICADAS ACROSS THE WORLD Priyanga U1 and Kannan R2 187 37. REASONS INFLUENCE TO START A COLD PRESSED OIL BUSINESS IN CHIDAMBARAM Sujith Sankar R1 and Ramanathan G2 191 38. TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: EXPLORING FUTURE ROLES AND PATHWAYS Rajasekaran.R1, Mohanraj.K2 Jeevapriya.A3 andN.Kalidass4 194 39. EFFECT OF WEED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON ENHANCINGSUSTAINABILITY UNDER CLIMATE RESILIENT AGRICULTURE K. Monisha1* and G. Murugan2 200 40. ENDURING THE DRY SPELL BY DEFYING DROUGHT THROUGH SCIENCE S. Monisha1*, P. Sudhakar2 and T. Porchelvan1 209 41. STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF PHYTO HORMONES ON ROOTING OF STEM CUTTINGS IN JAMUN Venkatraj N*, Rajkumar M** and Dhamodharan N** 214 42. A MATHEMATICAL AND MACHINE LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR MODELING PLANT GROWTH UNDER FLUCTUATING SUNLIGHT R.Sugunthakunthalambigai1and B.Jaishri2,Pooja Gupta2 223 43. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ICT AND IOT PLATFORMS IN IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES J. Meenambigai1, D. Lokeshwaran2 231 3 rd International Conference on ‘The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture’ 14th [August, 2025] ISBN - 978-93-343-4493-6 Page 177 A POLICY REVIEW ON INDIA'S DIGITAL AGRICULTURE MISSION IN BUILDING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION G. Balaji 1 , D. Vengatesan 2 and M. Kavaskar 3 1 Research Scholar, Department of Agriculture Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Cuddalore-608002, TamilNadu, India. 2 Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Cuddalore-608002, TamilNadu, India. 3 Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: [email protected] Abstract India's Digital Agriculture Mission (2021–2025) represents a transformative policy initiative aimed at building sustainable food systems through the integration of digital technologies into agricultural extension. This review explores the mission’s contributions to environmental, economic and social sustainability by examining empirical data and policy outcomes. Precision farming practices facilitated by mobile advisories and platforms such as Agri-stack have led to significant improvements, including up to 25.00 % increases in crop productivity and reductions of 30.00 % in water use. Economically, digital marketplaces like e-NAM have enhanced market access for 1.77 crore farmers, while financial inclusion has expanded through the growth of Kisan Credit Cards and crop insurance coverage. Socially, the mission has improved digital literacy and empowerment among women farmers, with over 7,200 female extension officers trained and targeted support programs such as drone distribution to women's SHGs. Despite these gains, challenges such as digital inequality, data governance and fragmented implementation persist. The paper underscores the need for inclusive co-design, robust infrastructure and institutional convergence to realize the full potential of digital agricultural extension. Overall, the Digital Agriculture Mission emerges as a critical lever for achieving resilient, inclusive and sustainable food systems in India. Keywords: Digital Agriculture Mission, Agri-stack, Agricultural Extension, Sustainable Food Systems. 1.Introduction The global initiative to transform food systems for sustainability social, ecological and economical has placed agricultural extension at the centre of agricultural and rural development reform efforts. In India, extension systems historically focused on top-down transfer of technology from lab to land. However, evolving challenges such as climate change, land fragmentation and market volatility necessitate more adaptive, farmer-centric models which leads to sustainable development. The Digital Agriculture Mission (2021–2025), launched by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, represents a strategic effort to leverage emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, GIS and IoT for precision agriculture and real-time advisories (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2021). This paper critically reviews the policy framework and implementation strategies of the Digital Agriculture Mission with an emphasis and supports sustainable food systems. 3 rd International Conference on ‘The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture’ 14th [August, 2025] ISBN - 978-93-343-4493-6 Page 178 2. The Digital Agriculture Mission: Policy Overview 2.1 Agri-Stack Agri-stack is a unified digital farmer registry that integrates farmers’ land records, cropping patterns, input usage and market behaviour into a single digital identity. As of 2023, pilot implementations of Agri-stack were launched in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, covering more than 5 million farmers (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2023). The unified database aims to enable targeted delivery of subsidies, advisories and financial services. It helps support customized advisories, efficient subsidy targeting and risk-based credit scoring. However, issues related to data privacy consent and ownership have sparked concerns over digital sovereignty (Agrawal, 2022). 2.2 Mobile Advisory Platforms Platforms such as Kisan Suvidha, mKisan, IFFCO Kisan, Krishi Rakshak and Uzhavan provide weather forecasts, pest alerts, market prices and localized crop advisories. As of 2023, the mKisan portal had disseminated over 2.6 billion SMS advisories to farmers, while the IFFCO Kisan platform supported 1.1 crore registered users (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2023). These tools are designed to reduce farmers’ reliance on intermediaries and provide timely access to critical information (Meera et al., 2023). Adoption remains constrained by language barriers, digital illiteracy and internet access, especially among small and marginalized farmers. 2.3 Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) The Digital Agriculture Mission encourages collaboration with agri-tech startups (e.g., DeHaat, CropIn, AgNext) and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to deliver customized digital services at scale. As of 2024, over 1,200 agri-tech startups were registered in India, with major partnerships forged under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and AgriStack pilots. DeHaat alone supports over 1.5 million farmers across 11 states (Startup India, 2024). These partnerships are intended to bring innovation, investments and efficiency to agricultural extension services. However, concerns persist over potential monopolies and corporate dominance over farmer data, raising equity and accountability concerns (FAO, 2021). 3. Contribution to Sustainable Food Systems 3.1 Environmental Sustainability Digital advisory platforms in India have led to notable gains in input efficiency and productivity. For example, Telangana's Saagu-Baagu program reports that farmers achieved 21.00 % higher yields on chilli while reducing pesticide use by 9.00 % and nitrogen fertilizer use by 5.00 % (World Economic Forum, 2022). Similarly, a Digital Green project found a 16.00 % reduction in nitrogen fertilizer application among pilot farmers following video advisories (Digital Green, 2021). Research underscores the broader potential of precision agriculture: NABARD notes that precision farming techniques can boost crop productivity by 20.00 –25.00 % while cutting water use by roughly 30.00 % (NABARD, 2021). An ICAR study also found that precision techniques can raise yields by 10.00 –15.00 % (ICAR, 2021). These improvements are significant given India's low baseline irrigation efficiency. Optimized irrigation scheduling and variable-rate inputs via digital tools promise major water savings. Together, these statistics indicate that the Digital Agriculture Mission's emphasis on site-specific advisories and IoT-enabled farming can 3 rd International Conference on ‘The Next Green Revolution: Trends and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture’ 14th [August, 2025] ISBN - 978-93-343-4493-6 Page 179 substantially reduce chemical usage and water waste, advancing the environmental sustainability of food production. 3.2 Economic Sustainability Digital agriculture tools are expanding market access and financial inclusion, which in turn bolster farm incomes. Digital marketplaces like the national e-NAM portal now connect 1.77 crore farmers and 2.53 lakh traders, handling about 8.96 crore metric tonnes of produce worth ₹3.19 lakh crore as of late 2023 (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2024). Concurrently, institutional credit and insurance coverage have grown: there are 7.75 crore operational Kisan Credit Card accounts (Ministry of Finance, 2024)and the share of agricultural credit going to small and marginal farmers rose from 41.00 % to 57.00 % between 2014–2024. Crop insurance enrolment under PMFBY expanded from 3.17 crore in FY 2022–23 to 4.19 crore in FY 2024–25 (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2024). Digital advisories also drive sharp gains: for instance, Telangana chilli farmers saw their net income double in one crop cycle thanks to optimized practices (World Economic Forum, 2022). Modelling studies corroborate these resultsNABARD estimates that precision farming could increase farmers’ incomes by 15.00 –20.00 % (NABARD, 2021). 3.3 Social Sustainability Digital extension efforts increasingly benefit marginalized groups, especially women. Mobile connectivity is widespread, with India recording 425 million rural smartphone users by January 2023 (TRAI, 2023). However, gender gaps persist: only 58.00 % of Indian women are aware of mobile technology and rural women are 45.00 % less likely than rural men to use mobile internet (GSMA, 2023). To bridge this divide, government programs have trained thousands of women in agri-tech. Between 2022 and 2025, about 1,769 women farmers received formal training and 759 women-led Agri ventures were launched (Ministry of Rural Development, 2024). Over 7,200 women extension officers have also been trained to support female farmers with digital tools (Ministry of Rural Development, 2024). Moreover, programs like the Mahila Kisan SashaktikaranPariyojana reserve 30.00 % of their resources for women. As a further step, 15,000 rural women's self-help groups are being equipped with drones (with 80.00 % subsidy) to offer agricultural services (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2024). These initiatives are helping to improve digital literacy, income and access to agricultural services among women, thus enhancing the social sustainability of Indian agriculture. 4. Challenges and Critiques Despite its potential, the implementation of the Digital Agriculture Mission faces several significant challenges. A persistent digital divide hampers widespread adoption, as smartphone access, digital literacy and internet connectivity remain uneven particularly in disadvantaged regions and among women farmers. Additionally, the absence of a comprehensive agricultural data governance framework in India raises concerns about data consent, interoperability and grievance redressal mechanisms (Agrawal, 2022). Farmer trust and adoption are also limited due to misinformation, low digital confidenceand negative past experiences with unreliable agri-apps. Furthermore, the fragmentation of services where digital initiatives operate in silos without coordination between state agriculture departments, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and technology