Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan concluded the Regional Agriculture Conference for Southern States in Hyderabad with direct instructions for state governments to accelerate digital agriculture initiatives and meet strict deadlines. The Minister emphasized that "Centre, states, scientists and farmers are one agriculture team" and demanded concrete action rather than mere meetings, stating that failure to deliver would "amount to cheating the people."
States were directed to complete Farmer ID generation within stipulated deadlines, with specific progress noted: Telangana and Karnataka have achieved over 75% completion in Farmer ID generation, while Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana have made good progress in georeferencing. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have completed the Digital Crop Survey. However, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands need to accelerate Farmer ID work, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala must expedite linking of land parcels. Kerala requires specific coordination between land record data and the Farmer Registry.
The Minister announced the expansion of the Bharat Vistar digital advisory platform from Hindi and English to 13 regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, enabling farmers to ask questions and receive answers in their native languages. States were directed to integrate their schemes with Bharat Vistar quickly. Additionally, southern states were instructed to prepare and notify Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for tenant farmers, including sharecroppers and agricultural tenants, with Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands specifically mentioned for this work. Puducherry and Lakshadweep were directed to undertake georeferencing of village maps.
On research dissemination, the Minister stated that 16,000 scientists from ICAR institutions, KVKs and agricultural universities would participate in 15-20 day agricultural campaigns in states to ensure research moves "from lab to land." The objective is to strengthen direct engagement between agricultural research and farming communities through village and field visits with farmers, scientists, and agriculture department officials.
A national Rabi Conference is scheduled for September 28-29 at the Pusa Institute in Delhi, where Agriculture Ministers and officials from all states will attend with detailed plans for the Rabi season. The conference will finalize decisions on crops to be sown, area allocation, and assess availability of seeds, fertilizer requirements, and other essential resources.
The conference was attended by Ministers of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Ram Nath Thakur and Shri Bhagirath Choudhary, along with Agriculture Ministers from Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry. Senior officers including Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Atish Chandra, and Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR Dr. M. L. Jat also participated.