PROCEEDINGS

OF

NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ICT APPLICATIONS IN AGRICULTURE

AND MINUTES OF MEETING HELD IN DAC

19-20 JUNE & 03 Nov 2014

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INAUGURAL SESSION & KEY NOTE ADDRESS

A National Workshop on ICT Applications in Agriculture was organized jointly by the

Department of Agriculture & Cooperation and National Informatics Center in Vigyan Bhawan,

New Delhi on 19 & 20 June, 2014. The response from participants from the entire country

was overwhelming. More than 220 participants from State Departments of Agriculture and

Allied Sectors in 17 States, State Units of NIC, Indian Council of Agricultural Research,

State Agriculture Universities, Indian Space Research Organization and Insurance

Companies took part in deliberations. Besides, this representatives of Agro-Industries and

Progressive Farmers also made valuable contributions during deliberations of the Working

Groups.

The workshop started with a floral welcome of dignitaries and a welcome note from Mrs. Suneja,

Director (Admin). Dr. Ranjana Nagpal, DDG, NIC welcomed the guests and elaborated on

objectives of the workshop and services to be rolled out under national e-Governance

Plan Agriculture (NeGP-A).

The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Ashish Bahuguna,

Secretary (Agriculture & Cooperation) and Shri R.S.

Sharma, Secretary, DeitY. The Secretary (Agriculture &

Cooperation) emphasized that end product should be

made simple and technology should be governed by end

user feedback. The data created by one window of ICT

should be available to all others. For instance, a large

percentage of calls received in Kisan Call Centers relate

to pests and diseases. This information should be made

available to researchers, academia and even common

public. There ought to be enough dialogue with the State

Governments to keep the efforts mainstreamed.

Secretary DeitY laid emphasis on use of scalable systems

and regular updation of data. He also exhorted the

participants to use crowd sourcing for building FAQs,

Knowledge-base and other Data-bases by making

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ORGANISED BY

DEPARTMANET OF AGRUCULTURE AND COOPERATION & NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE

KRISHI BHAWAN NEW DELHI

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common public contribute. He also highlighted the thrust given by the Government of

India to cloud-computing, open-source software and interoperability. He suggested State

Agriculture Portal to be customized for various States.

Before this, while giving an overview of ICT initiatives in

Agriculture & Allied sectors in the country, Shri Sanjeev

Gupta, Joint Secretary (Extn. & IT) in the Ministry of

Agriculture, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation,

explained the concept of USSD (Unstructured

Supplementary Services Data) with an illustration of

identification of appropriate machinery along with its

source, by using a very basic phone, having no internet.

He also explained basic features of Farmers‟ Portal and

SMS Portal. He elaborated as to how nearly 100 crore

SMS messages had been sent to the farmers in 11 months based on location and

priorities of crop/agriculture practices of various farmers. New value added features

such as supervisory control, user level delivery reports, graphical dashboard etc. were

also explained. In case of Farmers‟ Portal dr ill down approach down to the block level

along with choice of appropriate crop and all relevant information related thereto were

also demonstrated live. The gathering was informed that Agriculture is number 1 in

terms of e-transactions, among all the Central Government Ministries and Organizations

by a wide margin in e-Taal Portal of the Department of Electronics & Information

Technology. Approval of NeGP-A in all the States with a total value of Rs. 874 crores

was also announced.

Discussion and Recommendation: DAY1

1. E-Parwana – Licensing Application by Shri Kailash,

NIC Pune

The live demo on e-Parwana – Licensing application for

Pesticides, Fertilizers and Seeds from Maharashtra was given by

Shri Kailash, of NIC Pune. He explained features of the

application and their effectiveness. JS (IT) advised to go through

each screen in detail during working group discussions, as this

application has to be taken up for national level roll-out.

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He further explained that system is automated to provide licenses for Manufacturers,

importers, distributers and retailer of Seeds, Fertilizers, and Insecticides, as per

various Acts and orders of Central Government and State Governments. The

person/organization willing to obtain a license for Manufacturing, selling, importing,

storing and any other business for seeds, fertilizers and insecticides shall make an

application to the licensing authority. The licensing authority will check the

application for satisfaction of requirements specified in the respective

acts/orders/laws, and Government resolutions. After fulfillment of these

requirements, the licensing authority may grant a license to that person. He also

explained about applying for renewal of license, online payment, submitting monthly

sales returns, etc.

2. Soil Testing Application by Shri Amit Majumdar, NIC West Bengal

Shri Amit Majumdar of NIC West Bengal gave a live

demonstration of Soil Health Card generation application. The

software has been implemented successfully in all the 10 Soil

Testing Labs (Govt.) in West Bengal. The Computerized

System has helped farmers to get the test results along with

the recommendations within a sustainable time gap. This

facilitation has motivated farmers to approach the Labs for testing more samples for

cultivation of variety of crops in different seasons. The main advantage of this system is

that users get their Soil Health Card (SHC) in time. Earlier farmers had to depend upon

postal method for the receipt of SHC. This application has been adopted by some States

after customization.

Online/ SMS request for soil testing and collection of sample is yet to be incorporated. The

main problem being faced is that at the time of registration that the farmers are not giving

their mobile numbers and dag number (Plot number). Recommendations of the experts are

not included in the software at present. JS (IT) informed that information on recommended

doses of fertilizers should be translated in to the databases. It was suggested that Fertilizer

quantity and quality should be rationalised on the basis of recommendation in SHC. In this

way subsidy can be saved.

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STCR based recommendations are also there but these are applicable on limited area. It

was decided by the JS (IT) that both the methods shall reside and the users may select the

applicable process or may select both to analyse the results obtained

It was suggested by Shri Amit Mazumder that the database will be centralised (i.e. a single

database) for operations by the States. For each State, separate state login page may be

prepared with defined roles/logins for users for data entry/ updation/MIS and Citizen

Interface to the applications. It was informed that the present/existing software also enables

this feature that is perfectly role based with each State having its own administrative rights

for the software

It was further discussed that having information of nutrient value of the soil sample at hand,

how to find the complete set of Recommendations (total requirement) for a particular soil,

thus how to suggest the current requirement (Total - Available) of the particular soil sample.

Mr. Saini of Croplife India raised the issue of integration of the system with plant protection

products. At the time of soil testing, the infections cannot be determined. An advisory can be

provided that may be redundant information to the farmers. This may result in unnecessary

purchase of a particular formulation as the government is not in a position to provide brand

names.

3. e-Krishi Kiran (Gujarat) by Anand Agriculture

University

A presentation was given by Anand Agricultural

University. E-Krishi Kiran developed by Gujarat

Agricultural University aims at generating the soil health

card for Gujarat state and covers most of the farmers of

the state. The software is available in Gujarati only. All

districts and villages are covered in Phase-I. Testing is

done for Macro and Micro elements.

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Provision of recommendations on the basis of crop, season, agro-climatic region and soil

nutrient value is there. A matrix of recommendations has been populated by State

Agricultural University. The matrix is updatable and recommendations are revised annually.

JS (IT) desired to collect all parameters required for recommendations. He desired the

identification and incorporation of the total set of nutrients and other requirements (A) for a

particular soil sample in order to provide the complete recommendation (A-B) where B is the

current nutrient value).

JS (IT) also suggested the incorporation of the dosage requirements w.r.t. to different

combinations of various fertilizers for a particular crop. He advised to get the matrix of all the

parameters to decide “A” in (A-B) system. He further desired that the value of “A” in (A-B) is

to be derived by State level Agricultural Scientists in 3-4 years‟ time. He suggested that

many states have same POPs and whether this information is available in database.

Linkage of each soil sample with the village census code was suggested. Nutrient value

made available on net, would be of use to farmers in the same area.

JS (IT) advised that RGI Census codes are standard codes and should be used in all the

applications for State/District/sub-district/village for interoperability of the applications

Uniform methodology for mapping of variability of NPK for Soil Fertility Maps should be there.

IISS adopted different methodologies for mapping.

4. SMS Portal by Shri Sanjeev Gupta, Joint Secretary (IT) and Ms. Shilpa

Mehta, Consultant ICT

Shri Sanjeev Gupta, Joint Secretary (IT)

gave live demonstration on Kissan SMS

Portal and explained features of the portal.

He informed that the software has been

completely developed in house by ICT

team in DAC.

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The SMS portal is extensively used by all three departments of Agriculture, IMD,

KVKs, SAUs, State Governments down to block level for sending topic based

seasonal advisories and providing services through SMSs to farmers in language of

the State.

Till date around 100 crores messages have been sent through SMS portal. Around 60

lakhs farmers have registered for this and the figure is expected to increase up to

8.93 crores.

Some states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are extensively using the SMS portal

for sending advisory whereas states like Rajasthan Orissa, Uttar Pradesh are lagging

behind.

He further demonstrated the working of SMS portal and explained as to how to send

advisories. He explained the detailed procedure for registration, how search can be

done for advisories and how message is transmitted. Facility is there for phonetic

typing for 12 Indian languages using the typing tools of Microsoft, Google and CDAC.

While explaining the concept of USSD, he lauded the efforts of Dr. Rajesh Gera,

DDG, NIC and his team for their hands-on approach and for providing prompt

implementation support.

JS (IT) further explained about KCC and informed that new portal for KKMS is ready.

He informed that on e-Taal – e-Transactions counting site of Government of India,

Agriculture is Number one.

Decisions Points of Meeting held on Nov 03, 2014

It was also decided that all States need to prepare an escalation matrix for escalating

calls which cannot be answered by KCC agents. Complete process of nominating

and preparing the Escalation matrix has already been sent to all the States.

Username and Passwords will need to be sent to all state Level Designated Officers

(SLDOs) via SMS and emails for this Escalation matrix.

In order to ascertain quality of answers and services being given by KCC agents to

the Farmers, an IVRS based system has also been developed. Farmers will be able

to rate the service/answers at a scale of 1 to 5.

He further talked about the Quality monitoring module and informed that if any

advisory is found to be incorrect, then it will be notified in the database and facility for

resending the corrected message has also been incorporated. He further explained

about the rating of the messages being sent. It was ex provided to user and informed

that farmer can send pull messages for rating and giving suggestions

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JS (IT) also gave live demo of USSD application developed for entering the current

market prices and arrival information from Mandis. He also explained that queries by

the farmers can also be addressed without internet. USSD is as old as Nokia first

handset and is supported on every mobile handset. It can be used for interactive text

messaging.

JS (IT) also demonstrated the dashboard. Drill-down facility of the dashboards of

SMS Portal.

Decisions Points of Meeting held on Nov 03, 2014

Farmer‟s portal pages need to be converted into Regional Languages. The IT

Division would provide the text of static webpages which needs to be put in separate

folders so that States can convert it in their regional language.

Insurance: The JS (IT) told the states that data of insurance is of 2012 year. It has not

been updated since then. It was noticed that most of the States are in fact issuing

insurance premium related notifications with at least one month or more duration from

closing of particular crop season. Thus, the insurance module can indeed be put to

good use. Data from such States may be obtained and populated on the website.

Extension Activities: Under Demonstration Plot, some states have done data entry.

For e.g. Gujarat and Jharkhand have done well. However, plot wise pre & post

activity details have been missing in most cases. Thus States to do data entry as

manpower is available under ATMA and NeGP-A Schemes. Under ATMA scheme

Programmer cum Data entry operator is available and under NeGP-A Phase II, we

have 02 Data entry operators at District and 01 Data entry operator at Block level.

Letter has already been issued from DAC to make use of Manpower under ATMA

and NeGP-A schemes.

JS (IT) requested the States to do Data Entry of various modules developed under

NeGP-A by Nov. 30, 2014.

Under Farmer‟s portal nothing has been done much on Animal Husbandry front.

Therefore, there is a need to integrate Animal Husbandry with Farmer‟s portal.

Seed Dealers: Latest version of the software has already been uploaded. Zone field

needs to be added in Seed Net database. There is a need to have “Edit” feature in

Seed net so that Dealer information can be updated. Option to add non-notified

varieties should also be added in State Jurisdiction only.

Seed Licensing: Under Seed Licensing, data about Seed Dealers needs to be added

and updated by the States.

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All Seed Dealers from Farmer‟s portal needs to be imported into NFSM portal to

avoid duplicate work.

Storage: Under Storage JS (IT) told states to make entry on SWC, NABARD and

NHB. Dummy Data should be removed under storage and all other modules.

Booklet & Flyers: States need to upload the data under Booklet and Flyer Section in

PDF form. The Booklets & Flyers need to appear State/ District wise and also topic-

wise.

JS (IT) also informed the states that those states which would do all data entry

and installation of White Boards in Panchayats would get additional Tablets

and Pico Projectors.

JS (IT) explained the principal and ease of converting existing web based services in

to SMS through kSeva. With the help of a small and concise code available in Java &

.net any web base service can be delivered in an efficacious and pervasive manner.

The Departments concerned need to registers themselves on KSewa through a

designated officer. This officer is to be authorized by Head of the Department or

Organization.

5. USSD Applications in Agriculture by Shri Rajesh Gera, DDG, NIC

Sh. Rajesh Gera, DDG (Health, Video

Conferencing, and Tender Process)

presented the insights into Unstructured

Supplementary Service Data (USSD). He

explained that USSD is in-built service and

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can be used from any GSM mobile handset, no smart phone application, special handset or

internet services is required. There is no need of installing any application on mobile. He further

explained the difference between SMS and USSD. User dials a short code in case of USSD

from their handset and chooses between various options provided in the menu. Two- way

exchange of a sequence of data between mobile handset and the application. SMS is broadcast

technology. USSD is for interaction. Currently USSD is working only on AIRTEL, TATA, BSNL &

IDEA SIM (prepaid or Postpaid). USSD service is toll-free. Hence, end user doesn‟t have to pay

and only department pays. In case of SMS, no SMS is toll-free. Hence user has to pay.

6. Farm Crop Management System (FCMS) and Crop Doctor by Sh. Sandeep

Saxena, APC Tamil Nadu

Shri Sandeep Saxena, Agriculture Production

Commissioner, Tamil Nadu presented the Farm Crop

Management System (FCMS) and Crop Doctor

developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. He

explained that FCMS would assist farmers in various

aspects of crop management, helping them improve

the quality of crops grown as well as bring in higher

yields for the farmer. In 2011, Tamil Nadu Agricultural department decided to go for farm

level intervention and farm level advisory system for the farmer. As each farmer is an

entrepreneur who puts his best to the production and thus the aim of the government was to

get him the best productivity and production returns. It was started with 02 districts and 06

more districts were added subsequently. He informed that all 31 districts of Tamil Nadu have

now been covered. He further informed that modules for horticulture, marketing, post-

harvest management and marketing are in development stages.

B. Crop Doctor Application

It has been developed with an objective to bridge the knowledge gap when it comes to

maintaining the crop. It helps the farmer to diagnose the crop health related issues and

find solution. It‟s a know-all solution for five crops- paddy, coconut, banana, Ragi and

sugarcane. It is available in 3 languages- English, Tamil and Kannada. The features of

crop doctor are as under:

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Farmers can upload the photos of affected crops. Maximum of 3 images can be

uploaded. Remedial advisories are given by experts in research stations and by

TNAU scientists.

Mobile advisories are provided. So far 14.88 crore text and 2.1 crores voice

advisories have been given. IIT Chennai is working for IVRS for advisory.

SMS portal of Department of agriculture is beeing used for SMS advisories.

FCMS portal is also integrated with Kisan SMS portal.

JS (IT) told that crop doctor contains scientific names for pest as it is difficult for

farmers to understand. It should have common names of the pest.

7. GIS Applications in Agriculture, Dr. Vishnu Chandra DDG NIC, Delhi

Shri Vishnu Chandra spoke on use of GIS for Agriculture

Marketing Infrastructure. He explained about the GIS

map service and GIS applications in Agricultural and

related sectors. The gist of the issues discussed is as

given below:-

a) Maps can be created up to village level if location

information with Latitude and Longitude is

available. Farmers‟ portal can be digitized up to village level.

b) National GIS has 12 levels.

c) Maps can be used as a service. NIC GIS services are available in

http://nicmaps.gis.nic.in

d) GIS applications have been developed for AGMARKNET, CGWB (Central Water

Information Services), SLUSI (Soil and Land Use Survey of India). It can also be

used for Micro Irrigation, training, extension and for other services also.

e) Databases can be used with locational tags and NIC GIS server can be used.

f) Revenue villages have boundaries but Census villages don‟t have.

8. Use of Satellite Technology – BHUVAN in Agriculture – particularly

Drought Management by Sh. Murthy NRSC

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Shri Murthy gave a very lucid talk on use of

satellite technology- Bhuvan in agriculture. He

informed that this is a software application which

allows users to explore a 3D representation of the

surface of Earth. It is currently available in four

local languages. Bhuvan allows users to view

2D and 3D images, along with information on soil,

wasteland and water resources on the Indian subcontinent. Users can superimpose

administrative boundaries of their choice, from a selection of boundaries available, on

images as required. Bhuvan 2D is compatible with all browsers and operating systems

and does not require any plug-in installation. He informed that Bhuvan services are

available for Agriculture, Rural development, Water resources, Environment, Forests

and Urban development. DDG (GIS), NIC informed that GIS-NIC is also using Bhuvan

maps.

Geospatial Technologies

Dr. C.S. Murthy also talked about Geospatial visualization, analysis and decision making

services. He explained the framework for geospatial technologies as -

a) Baseline information –

b) Information and maps – Sub-district level, Irrigation infrastructure, Irrigated area –

NRSC, Land holding

c) Planning/Services related

d) Rainfall maps, Moisture Adequacy Index, NADAMS Assessment, Drought Management

- Contingency plans and implementation, Drought declaration, fisheries, marketing, etc.

e) MAI (Moisture Adequacy Index) is very important for drought declaration. Drought

index not found in many states.

f) Dr. Murthy explained about the features of Bhuvan. In Bhuvan, 2D, 3D visualization

have been provided. It has inbuilt tools available for navigation. It provides various

thematic services i.e land, weather, ocean, disaster etc. It permits data with high

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resolution, on fly analysis, Layers can be generated like land cover, Crops, transport,

watershed, etc.

g) He informed about the Bhuvan applications for various ministries. He informed that

operational and pilot Bhuvan services are available for Agriculture, Rural development,

Water resources, Environment & Forests, Urban development, etc. DDG(GIS), NIC

informed that GIS-NIC is also using Bhuvan maps.

h) Yield estimation can be done using satellite images. No. of colors are limited. Hence faux

colors are used. Different colors are used for different crops. Variations for Bhuvan

estimations (8%) are less than USDA estimations. (+-28%)

i) Geo-tagging can be done when Bhuvan, support is provided to applications. Every

tehsil/village is geo referenced in Bhuvan

j) He further explained about field data collection. There is real time field data collection

for crop status, soil fertility, pest & diseases. Faux Color Composite (FCC) is used as

discriminate is more in FCC than TCC (True Color Composite). Pest & disease survey

can be done using crowd sourcing. Scale of analysis determines the accuracy of map.

Bhuvan is a collaborative portal.

9. Micro Irrigation System, Gujarat Green Revolution Company, Gujarat

A presentation on the Micro-Irrigation System was given by representative from Gujarat

Green Revolution Company Limited (GGRC). It is an implementing agency for

implementation of Micro Irrigation Scheme (MIS) in Gujarat state. Its aim is to bring

green revolution in the state by saving of water, electricity and enhancing agriculture

productivity resulting in the farmer‟s prosperity at large. Following points were

discussed-

Any farmer can get subsidy of Rs. 60,000/- per hectare or 50% of the MIS cost

whichever is less for any area & any crop. Farmer can choose cropping pattern of his

choice with a flexibility of MIS. Farmer has to apply to GGRC. GGRC verifies all the

documents before registration. GGRC charges 3% per registration as processing fee. It

is retained by GGRC from the amount farmer gets as subsidy. It was pointed out by JS

(IT), DAC that it means a farmer gets 3% less subsidy.

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It was further informed that Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI) decides

norms for M&T quality. It was informed by Odisha that in Odisha BIS standards are

followed and these are strictly adhered to.

In GGRC Micro Irrigation Application, GERI does the quality testing. Prices have been

standardized and if all documents are submitted, application is processed.

Farmers can get complete information about the status of his application through GGRC

portal.

GPS based location identification through geo-tagging can be done.

Third party inspection is conducted.

Farmer gets linked with supplier and it gets expired after 180 days. Supplier approaches

to farmer. Supplier gets the documents. He does data entry for the farmer.

Information on disbursement of subsidy and release of final payment is available.

DAY 2

1. Migration of Central and State Agricultural applications on NeGP-A

hardware by Col (Retd) Ashok Kumar, Principal Consultant, NeGP-A

Col (Retd) Ashok Kumar, Principal Consultant,

Ministry of Agriculture presented activities required

for migration of state applications into Data centers

operational under NeGP-A. He informed that under

pilot phase seven states Karnataka, Kerala,

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,

Jharkhand and Assam have been covered. Roll out

phase will cover all remaining States and UTs. He gave following information regarding

NeGP-A infrastructure and its usage:-

a) Details of the NeGP-A hardware infrastructure installed in Central Data Centres,

State data Centers and provided to end users. He advised states to take initiatives to

migrate their applications for Agriculture, Horticulture & Fisheries department on NeGP-

A servers.

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b) He further informed that adequate arrangements have been made in the project

for Helpdesk. Two resources have already been deployed for Data Centre support. He

also asked states to identify space suitable for deployment of their resources.

c) EMS has been partially launched on 2nd June‟ 2014 for End User Complaint

Registration. Web interface is ready and USSD interface will also be developed. Present

Helpdesk landline number at Delhi is 011-25843216 , HP toll free number is 1800-11-

2267 and email is helpdesk-negpa@gov.in

d) He mentioned that SLAs for all NeGP-A assets of the state are to be calculated

on half-yearly basis. He further informed that if vendor is not attending the complaints,

very stringent conditions are there in SLA. EMS system generates alerts for logged

complaints. He further informed that State nodal officers and District nodal officers will

be able to monitor the time taken for attending the complaints. However, for this, details

of district level nodal officers (name, Designation, Department, Mobile No., and email

address etc.) are needed. He informed that State Level Nodal Officers details are

available with DAC.

e) Participants from Karnataka and Punjab suggested that IT Secretary/IT

department should also be kept informed about the developments in the projects, as

their involvement is necessary.

f) It was further suggested that all nodal officers should be issued official e-mail ids.

g) It was also informed that there are complaints of e-mail not working. Normally

this happens when officers forget password or when after transfer, there is no proper

transfer of official e-mail id. Transferred officers carry password. It was suggested that

during transfer of charge, email-id and password should be handed-over. Another

reason may be if one is not using e-mail for long duration, it gets de-activated after 90

days and one has to activate it. There is national policy on e-mail of NIC.

h) JS(IT) further explained that for g-mail, authentication is not required. However

for NIC e-mail authentication is required, which is necessary. Hence it takes more time

(2/3 days). He further suggested e-mail may be created by name or designation. It was

suggested that NIC mail should be made more user-friendly. Sometimes push e-mail is

not working in the morning. DDG (NIC) explained that there may be issues occasionally.

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However support is there. It was also suggested that normally officers work with session

always open and connected to server. It is better to use desktop version like outlook,

Eudora, etc for emails.

Discussion Points of Meeting held on Nov 03, 2014

Site Preparation: JS (IT) informed the states that funds have already been released for

Phase-II under heads Site Preparation for locations in Blocks and Training centers,

PMU. The State would start getting the Hardware by February.

JS (IT) also informed that in few states Animal Husbandry departments have not been

IT equipped. So hardware support would be provided to them within overall allocation.

There might be few states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangna which have large population

but few blocks. We should give more PCs in Districts of such States as per allocation.

There might be few changes in Districts and Blocks in the State which needs to be

verified for calculation of Hardware.

JS (IT) also informed that all reporting (Site Preparation, Delivery,

Installation/Acceptance Testing) under NeGP-A would be done through NeGP-A

Hardware Distribution System application.

2. NeGP-A Overview & Feedback on NeGP-A Guidelines by Shri Sanjeev

Gupta, Joint Secretary (IT)

Shri Sanjeev Gupta, JS (IT) presented salient features of

NEGP-A guidelines. He stressed on various components of

guidelines like Manpower at States, districts, Blocks,

establishment of PMU in states, Training and connectivity

issues. It was informed that very detailed description has

been made in the guidelines as to the purpose, minimum

qualifications required, roles & responsibilities and amounts to be paid to various resources

under NeGP-A. He exhorted all the States to follow very transparent procedures for their

recruitment and only appoint persons based on detailed selection process and merit.

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It was informed that manpower is also available under ATMA and other Agriculture related

schemes at district level. District Agriculture officers are best judges to utilize these

resources as per their needs, within a district. States were also advised to ensure that these

resources are paid as per their entitlements and that there is no exploitation by middlemen

or agencies, through which these persons are being employed. He also informed that states

which are getting assistance under AGRISNET scheme, their unspent balances under

AGRISNET (without any future definite plan of action) will be considered as part of GOI

resources available for NeGP-A. Following were the additional points outlined by JS (IT):-

a) It was further stressed by JS(IT), that state-of-the art infrastructure has been provided

under NeGP-Agriculture and it should be utilized by States. JS (IT) further informed that

prices are much lower for establishing this infrastructure than using cloud

implementation for data centers.

b) For Connectivity, Rs. 11000 per year per location will be provided at district & block

levels. States can take broadband or leased line, wherever it in not possible to connect

to SWAN nodes. Dead copper pair can be taken as copper connectivity along with

DSNL modem. Most of the blocks are having 2 Mbps connectivity. For Computer

Operator, funds of Rs. 15000 will be given for every 2 blocks.

c) It was informed by Participants from Karnataka that BSNL is charging Rs. 500/600 per

year, however there are issues regarding speed. It was advised to check concurrency

ratio.

d) It was informed that Touch screen kiosks at the scale of 2 per block and 1 per district will

be provided.

e) JS(IT) informed that training centers are for all and not only for NeGP-A project trainings.

It was suggested that these training centre should have fixed hardware.

f) JS(IT) informed that RFP was to be floated by 31st May 2014. However due to non-

availability of data from states, it could not be floated. He advised states to complete civil

infrastructure and site preparation. He further suggested that programming cannot be

done at State level. He informed that Central Agricultural Portal will be upgraded

Farmers‟ portal.

Discussion Points of meeting held on Nov 03, 2014.

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g) JS (IT) informed the states that funds are being released for Phase-II under the heads

„Site Preparation‟ for locations in Blocks and Training centers, „PMU‟ and Data Entry

Operators. The States would start getting the Hardware by end February 2015.

h) JS (IT) mentioned that in few states Animal Husbandry departments have not been

equipped and the States may also provide them Hardware support under NeGP-A.

There certain states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana where the number of farm families

is large but number of blocks is less. A separate provision has been made to cater for

requirements of such Sates in terms of more number of hardware in districts and State

offices of Agriculture department.

i) There might be few changes in Districts and Blocks in the States which would require to

be verified for calculation of Hardware.

j) JS (IT) also informed that all States will have to enter data regarding Site Preparation,

Delivery, Installation/Acceptance Testing under NeGP-A through online NeGP-A

Hardware Distribution System.

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3. Market Information by Sh. Rajesh Srivastava,

Shri Rajesh Srivastava Presented on Market Information application. He informed that

around 3200 Markets have been covered throughout the country for collection and

dissemination of arrival and price information using AGMARKNET portal. E-alert application

has also been implemented to get the agricultural commodity prices through SMS/mail.

Standalone application for updation of market information using client server architecture is

in use in 3200+ markets. Web based Application for market information developed and is

under pilot test for markets of Delhi (Narela and Gazipur) and will be implemented for all

3200 markets. Around 3000 new markets will be covered during 12th plan. Provision for

providing mobile/tablets for sub yards markets where Power problem/Connectivity issues

has also been kept. He also informed that integration of web based portal for taking farmers‟

preferences for prices by SMS and KKMS has already been done.

JS (IT) also mentioned a need the need of a weighted average of prices in addition to

present system of Min, Mode and Max. There is a requirement to develop an interface to

capture above information.

There was also discussion on newly developed Buyer and Seller module by DAC

development team, where information could be shared via SMS.

Future arrival and market trends:- State Agriculture Universities(TNAU) and NCDEX and

other Commodity Exchanges are already providing advisories. More SAUs may take-up this

initiative.

Web service based integration of storage databases and Farmers‟ Portal: - Central

warehousing Corporations, State Warehousing Corporations, Private Cold storages and

Rural Godowns needs to be integrated.

State agricultural departments may be requested to provide the information on

State level data on MSP

Choice of right source of agriculture credit to be dealt by the credit division

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Working Groups’ Deliberations and Finalization of Recommendations

Working Group 1: e-Parwana (Licensing Applications for Fertilisers, Seeds

and Pesticides) and related aspects of availability, pricing etc.

Chaired By: Shri Narendra Bhooshan, JS (M&T/INM)

Group Coordinator

NIC

Shri Aseem Gupta, Pr. Systems Analyst

Representatives

from DAC

Vandana Jain (Director PP), R.K. Trivedi, H.P. Singh (INM)

and States Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,

Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, NIC-Pune, DAC representative, NIC

Punjab, NIC Uttar Pradesh, NlC Delhi (Tulika, Aseem Gupta),

Representatives from industry.

A. Recommendations (Pesticides Licensing)

• License for manufacturer of Pesticides should be as per list of Registered products

shown on CIB&RC website

• Trade name should be made mandatory

• Restricted list or banned list of products given at CIB&RC website should be linked

• Source of Technical, either imported or indigenous to be checked with CIB&RC website

• Various categories like FIM,TIM , Export under 9(3)/9(4)/9(3b) should be mentioned in

the application

• At the time of renewal, sample reports should be checked. Hence License application

should be linked with quality control applications (e-lab) and complaint Monitoring

system.

• At the time of renewal of license, infrastructure for manufacturing needs to be checked, if

these are not as mandated, manufacturing license should be cancelled.

• Information in all relevant forms available in the insecticide act/ rule should be facilitated

by e-Parwana such as Stock, Sales, production, import, packaging size, and

manufacturing and batch no.

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• List of documents required with the application form in e-Parwana should be as per

Insecticide Act & Rule, Fertilizer Control Order and Seed Act.

• Issuance of License should be digitally signed by License issuing authority

• There is a requirement of standardization of formats and unified license Number.

• Issuing of licenses should be as per First come First Serve basis.

• Nationwide one payment gateway for all services need to be established by Govt. of

India

• Location mapping of dealer (pesticides, fertilizer, seed) with GIS maps is required for

development of dealer‟s network.

B. Seed Licensing Recommendations

• List of documents are to be as per Seed Act.

• Application should be sorted on date of submission of application to license

processing/issuing authority

• Application for Producer/Manufacturer should be renamed as per Act. In the seed Act

there is no license for producer or manufacturer.

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Working Group 2: Soil Testing (Soil Health Card) and STCR application,

Agricultural Statistics

Chaired By: Shri E. K. Majhi, JS(RKVY)

Group Coordinator

NIC,

Shri Amit Majumdar, Technical Director, NIC West Bengal, Dr. Vandana

Khullar

Representatives

from DAC

Vandana Dwivedi (Additional Commissioner), Amit Arora, Consultant

M&E

and States West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,

Jharkhand, Meghalaya, NIC West Bengal and AAU Representative, NIC

MP, NIC Pune (Shri Phengde), NIC Delhi (Beena Menon), Malti Negi,

Representatives from Fertilizer Industry

A. Soil Health Card Recommendations

State wise recommendations to be finalised by NIC Pune & IISS Bhopal

Workflow and database fields of West Bengal including input and output screens for the

SHC application to be circulated to all States

Integration of existing data from States who want to continue using their own system so

that the entire data will be at one place

On selection of an area, the software should determine whether STCR or STCR-FYM or

STFRS is applicable

Multiple options for collection of data (soil samples) and record

Types of Labs should appear from a drop down list

The list of sources of samples to be standardised

Facility to enter multiple Khasra/Plot numbers

Units of application of fertilizers and recommendations by the software may be fixed by

choice for example: kg/tons/quintals per ha/acre/bigha

Census codes to be used

Blocks to mapped with NARP zones

SAUs should be involved for vetting the outcome of methods applicable for soil testing

Data on soil types and texture to be collected and made available as basic/master data

Provision should also exist to upload data in offline mode where Internet connectivity

isn‟t available so that data may be uploaded when connectivity is available.

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SAUs should be involved in the development of software and should also be vetted by

IISS

(discussion points of meeting held in R. No. 243 on Oct 20, 2014)

There is a need to identify districts which use STCR equations and which ones use A-B

formula to identify deficiencies of soil for targeted yield. The existing PoPs can be used

for this.

Results of soil test should be sent by SMS on mobile.

Variety wise –recommendations also should be incorporated.

Mapping between top dressing period (varies from Crop to crop), Fertilizer, vegetation

growth, with crop wise.

Working Group 3: Seed Availability Application & Farm Machinery and Fund

Flow Monitoring System

Chaired By: Shri Atanu Purkayastha, JS (Seeds)

Group Coordinator

NIC

Shri D.V. Singh, SSA,

Representatives

from DAC

V. Kale, Dir (M&T), Dr R K Tripathi, Director Extension, S.Selvaraj,

Deputy. Comm.(Seed), Shailesh, DS(INM)

Representatives

from States

Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra

Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, NIC Assam, NlC Bihar, NIC Orissa, Tanu

Grover, NIC Delhi, Representatives from Seed & Farm Machinery

industry

A: Recommendations and Discussion Points

The seed availability module to be circulated to all State Seed Corporations, Agriculture

Universities , Seed Associations and State Government for their comments and

suggestions, and comment to be submitted by respective organization by 15th July

2014. Inputs and feedback received from various States shall be discussed, finalized

and implemented.

The seed sale price is to be incorporated in module

Major characteristics of variety, adaptability is to be mentioned in module.

Inclusion of private research variety of Seed Company.

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A counter is to be included in module.

Multi language support.

Lot wise detail is to be filled.

Filters to be added for report generation.

Discussion Points of Meeting Held on Nov 03

All State Corporations need to be enrolled on the Portal. State government can

coordinate the task. The State seed corporation needs to facilitate the Data Entry form.

Dealer level data entry needs to be done.

Editing of information pertaining to seed dealers to be added in Seed information

System.

Producer and New Dealer field need to be added.

Provision of editing information of existing dealer with variety produced by him need to

be added.

Non-notified varieties will remain in specific State‟s data compartment.

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B: Farm Machinery Related Specific Recommendations

Registration of New Manufacturer- Manufacturer should first select the state and then

click on "Registration button" for going to Registration Page.

In the Registration Form once a Manufacturer has filled all his details then clicks on

Submit Button a panel should open with a Message that “Do you Want to Work as a

Dealer” then Press CONFIRM otherwise Press CANCEL.

If Manufacturer presses CONFIRM button then this Manufacturer can also work as a

Dealer also If He Press CANCEL Button then this Manufacturer can work only as a

Manufacturer.

One Additional Page is required for Registration of Traders. In case the manufacture

wants to be approved by other state. He then selects the concerned state.

Add/ Modify - Engine/ Self Propelled and Animal Drawn in Source of Power.

Under Testing details – add Video Clips of product, Leaflet/Brochure of the Product,

Cover page and extract of the report where signature of testing authority is reflecting.

Under "Dealers Information for Farm Implements" Email id field to be added.

After Sales Service Available (Yes/No) to be added in Product details.

Working Group 4: Farmers' Portal and SMS portal

Chaired By: Dr. Shakil P.Ahamad, JS(Plan Coordination and Policy)

Group Coordinator

NIC

Shri A.N. Mishra, Senior Technical Director Shri Rakesh Vardhan,

Technical Director

Representatives

from DAC

Shilpa Mehta, Consultant(ICT)

and States Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh,

NIC Tamil Nadu, NIC Karnataka, Kerala

A: SMS Portal Related Specific Recommendations

State wise, Entity wise messages in dashboard should be there.

In Dashboard, Graphs should be there for state comparison and interlinking of graphs.

Graphs for user specific dashboard.

Use of AI to generate auto answers of repeated queries with the help of CDAC Pune.

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Publicity of Pull Codes should be done.

Number of farmers registered in state, district and block should be displayed.

For excel sheet uploading, dos and don‟ts should be there.

Option of “Officers registered for sending advisories” should be displayed only to central

and State nodal officers and in case of State, message should go to officers of that state

only.

Department wise state wise reports are not coming complete.

Circulating updated User Manual.

User wise State filter should be maintained.

Discussion points of meeting held on Nov 03

JS (IT) requested State governments to add Farmer Portal and mKisan links on home

page in State government websites of Agriculture department.

JS (IT) also told that state should PUSH the records that are edited and the record

should be overridden and whatever is deleted form it should also conveyed to the

Ministry so that database can be updated. In case of License number, where ever there

is a change it can also be modified it and whenever the License is expired it can be

reflected in the database.

More services in PULL SMS Service should be added.

If lot of messages sent by the states fail to get delivered, IT Division should send the list

of such numbers along with data source to that states for verification.

State Governments and all other departments should start using KSeva for providing

services in an efficacious and pervasive manner. The Departments concerned need to

registers themselves on KSewa through a designated officer. This officer is to be

authorized by Head of the Department or Organization

USSD source code should be shared with NIC so that state can develop their own

Application.

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B: Farmer Portal Related Specific Recommendations

Portal should be in regional language. A module is to be developed where English data

entry should automatically be converted into regional language and an option of

validation by state nodal officers should be given.

User manual of farmers‟ portal in regional language should be there.

Live Chat option should be there in the portal.

List of state wise training schedule should be there and a module for states to upload the

same.

List of nearest SAU, ATMA, KVK and other agricultural allied institutes should be there

on the portal and can be displayed on map itself.

New Research and innovations from ICAR and other research institutions should be

pulled and displayed on the portal.

MSPs will be provided by Agri. Statistics Department through SNO.

Grievance redressal/contact link should be there (Escalation Matrix) and number of

grievances received and replied.

District wise IMD data should be pulled through XML and to be displayed on the web.

Login credentials for uploading POPs can be given to SAUs.

District-wise dealers report to be incorporated.

Pesticides & Fertilizer dealer‟s data entry to be separated.

Agriculture Insurance Details should be there on the web.

Animal Husbandry & Fisheries information should be linked.

Text to Voice facility should be there.

Responsive website should be made so that it can be easily accessed on mobile without

scrolling.

Ground Water Maps should be linked.

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Working Group 5: Training Applications Agricultural Extension

Chaired By: Sh. Sanjeev Gupta, JS (Extension)

Group Coordinator

NIC

Pratibha Lokhande, Technical Director, Shailendra Saxena, PSA

Representatives

from DAC

Mrs. Suneja, Director(Administration), Prashant Armorikar, Joint

Director, Natarajan, Consultant

and States Punjab, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Assam, Maharashtra, Bihar, NlC Andhra

Pradesh, NIC Gujarat

A: Recommendations for Application

Capturing feedback of participants at different levels and creating the database. This will

include following:-

Session wise/ resource person wise feedback to be captured.

o Feedback / suggestions on Training Methodology

o Feedback on Field visit/ Logistics.

o Feedback on the content covered.

o Suggestive Topic to be included in future training.

o Feedback on training materials

o Suggestions from participants on adoption / use of information / knowledge/ skills

gained from training.

o All off-campus/ on-field trainings may upload the training feedback, within 2 days.

Nomination system may be included as part of the software.

Enrollment of Experts/ resource persons (including retired Officers/ Scientists)

Online Application and acceptance

Registration for getting Training Schedule details on Mobile/e-mail.

Nomination system may be included as part of the software.

Enrollment of Experts/ resource persons (including retired Officers/ Scientists)

Online Application and acceptance

Registration for getting Training Schedule details on Mobile/e-mail.

General Points

1. Advantages of a Centralized Training Module for States

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Should be able to monitor all training issues. (Tracking Nomination & Participation in

Training Programmes).

Tracking training infrastructure.

Training experts‟ availability.

Availability of institute wise training calendar. This will also facilitate centralized

monitoring of all the training programme (Institute wise, subject Wise, area wise, Period

wise, participants Category wise) their feedback by DAC.

Data-based decision making to undertake new or desired training programme / fine tune

training content of existing progrmame.

2. States Willing to adopt central Application with certain customisation

Bihar

Jharkhand

Kerala

Karnataka

Gujarat

Tamilnadu

West Bengal

An advisory committee may be constituted at DAC/DOE level with representation from

selected State Dept. of Agriculture, few farmers, ICAR, SAUs, SAMETIs, EEI and

MANAGE to coordinate with NIC Team.

The State Nodal Officer may nominate an agency/ Institute to coordinate with all

stakeholders (Agril./Horti/AH/SAU etc.) and NIC for customization / implementation of

Extension & Training information system for concern state.

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3. Recommended Institutions to be included

All ICAR institutions (including KVKs), EEIs, All SAMETIES, All SAUs, ATMAs, Central

Agricultural Universities, FTCs / DTCs, RARS / HRS/ZRS, SIRDs, NABARD/ Banks/R-

SETIs / ICMs, ETCs, Others allied sector universities (Horti. / AH/Fisheries etc.)

General Recommendations

Development of software on lines of Digital Green to be used with Pico Projector.

Integration of Training applications with FCMS & Extension Information System

o The manpower of schemes viz. NHM/NFSM/RKVY/ Extension Reforms to be

consolidated & allotted responsibilities for specific villages along with their geo-

coordinates.

o Each extension functionary to be mapped up to Village level & his /her movement

details & activities to be captured through GPS.

o All field functionaries to be provided hand held devices/ Pico Projectors to update

their activities/ information collected at the village level online/ offline.

o All functionaries to capture farmers details, requirements, crops, area visited,

feedback and upload.

o Extension functionaries may also collect information on innovation, success

stories along with geo-tags and photographs.

o The extension functionaries must carry the basic information of the area along

with POP and good films on the major crops/ success stories and

information on all Govt. Schemes (Central/ States) along with entitlement.

Content for the Display Board in each village.

o Name & Contact details of All District / Block/ villages level functionaries starting

from farmers friend/Krishak Mitra.

o Movement scheduled of Extension Functionaries.

o New features of Farmers Portal/ KCC for Farming community.

o Name & contact nos. of SAU/KVK scientist.

o Any major extension event( Field day, Joint Visit, VBT/ Meeting of CIGs/FPOs)

o Next date / Subject of farm school.

o Contingency alerts.

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Extension Reforms Application (Discussion Points of Meeting held on Nov 03)

While reviewing the progress of data entry of extension activities on portal, it

was noted that except Gujarat and Jharkhand, complete data entry was not

being done by the remaining States in the EMS Portal. J.S. (Extn.), therefore,

expressed concern over such lackadaisical approach of other States, despite

the fact that there is no dearth of man power at district and block level, i.e.,

the Computer Programmer/ Operator under ATMA/ NeGPA and AGRISNET.

He emphasized that if states put the data available with them on Portal, a

revolution can take place in the field of ICT in Agriculture. In order to make

a head-start with this activity, it has been decided that quarterly entry

of the first two quarters of the financial year 2014-15 and Monthly

Progress Report from September, 2014 must be completed within first

fortnight of November, 2014. From October, 2014 only electronic data

entry will be accepted and backlog entry must also be got done

separately in time bound manner.

Comments from States on Revised EMS Portal:

Tamilnadu: They found an error in opening the page of Portal. J S (Extn.)

observed that other States are not facing such problem in opening Portal’s page

and they are making data entry regularly. He said that there could be local

problem in Tamilnadu and same could be sorted out with local NIC officials.

Developers should nevertheless check browser compatibility issues

Gujarat: Suggested followings for:-

Designation of non-ATMA manpower in EMS Portal should be incorporated.

Entry of targets for EPF, ESIC, Service Tax and Service Provider’s profit etc. in

respect of state Coordinator should be made on monthly basis.

They also suggested that there should be data entry for EPF, ESIC, Service Tax

and Service Provider’s profit etc. in the Portal. in respect of ATMA manpower.

As the Computer Programmers/ Operators have been provided at district level

also, data entry in respect of both targets and achievements should be made at

District level and not at State level.

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Jharkhand: They have tried to enter data on Revised EMS Portal at State &

District level but facing following problems which need clarifications:-

Under Demonstration (B3) Component, there are two types of

demonstrations [Agriculture & allied sector) which may be separated in

the online form.

Some of the activities like Mobilization (B5), B11, and B14 have been

shown at State level in place of data entry at district level. Of course

there is a provision to update the same for district but it is cumbersome

to do for each such component/sub- component.

Research-Extension linkage should be renamed as Farmers-Scientist

Interaction as per the Guidelines so as to avoid any confusion at district

level.

SAMETI Jharkhand has added one entry as Dy. Director but it is not

able to modify the qualification option as portal indicates that the record

already exists.

Add Blocks of Khunti District in EMS Portal.

Sikkim:

State level Password is not working.

Meghalaya:

Allow target & achievement data entry at State level as swan is not

working at District level. JS (Extn) clarified that target entry should be

done at State level but achievement entry should be done at District

level.

Assam:

Changed name of district i.e. Dima Hasao should be reflected in place of

NC Hill in EMS Portal

Udalguri District was also not reflecting.

Punjab:

Total number of Blocks in the State is 145 and not 141.Same should be

amended in the portal.

Mizoram

In RKVY Portal, district data has been shown 20 years old.

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Working Group 6: Fertilizer Quality Control and Other NeGP-A Services

Chaired By:

Group Coordinator

NIC

Anju Kapoor, NIC , Balasundar, PSA, NIC, Rajesh Srivastava, G.

K.Tiwari, Janardhan, Sanjay Sharma, Shahid

Representatives

from DAC

Col (Retd.) Ashok Kumar, Principal Consultant, NeGP-A

and States Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,

NIC, Odisha

A: Fertilizer Licensing Recommendations

Dealer‟s data of mFMS may be taken as base database. Since it is in use and

transactions are happening from it.

o System may provide option to edit the wrong information and add the unfilled

information.

o This data base should be available to all applications dealing with dealers.

o The data will get maintained and managed centrally

Wholesaler‟s monthly stock position may be taken from mFMS

District may enter retailers monthly stock data into mFMS

Standardization of formats and unified license number should be done

Location mapping of dealer (pesticides, fertilizer, seed)

No. of documents to be reduced.

The present workflow is based on the system of Central Fertiliser Quality Control and

Training Institute.

Since Central Coding Office (CCO) concept is not being followed in most of the states, it

can be suitably modified according to their requirements.

The mixture of N.P.K and micronutrient fertilisers which are state specific should also be

included in the master list. Similarly Provisional and customised should also be included

in the master list.

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Mobiles will have to be provided to all the inspectors

Necessary amendments should be made in fertiliser Control Order (FCO) to make it in

conformity with the software developed.

Digital signatures of the concerned officials should be incorporated.

Product wise details of samples collected, analysed and found non-standard should be

incorporated.

Details of Referee samples should also be included in the workflow.

Discussion Points of VC held on Nov 03

There are around 11,000 Fertilizer Inspectors in the country. States should enter

details of Fertilizers Inspectors in the one-time registration interface.

Interface needs to be designed for capturing the details of this Fertilizer inspector.

This would come through mKisan.

There is also a need to define the roles of Fertilizers inspectors in the application.

Laboratory number also needs to be captured.

IT Division has been creating data entry screen for capturing Inspector and

Laboratory details.

JS (IT) instructed the NIC to design application for capturing details of the Fertilizers

Inspectors by end of this week.

Andhra Pradesh informed that they are already using the system developed by

State. JS(IT) told them they can continue with using their system but other States

should use the system developed under NeGP-A

NIC would give the Link by the end of week to enter Laboratories details.

mFMS (discussion points of meeting held in R. No. 243 on Oct 20, 2014)

Dealers and resellers are not mapped to the blocks in terms of jurisdiction.

Linkage of Block – Village is not there. This mapping of Block to villages also needs

to be created so that farmers can be provided information of fertilizers

availability in and around their area.

On Dealers side following features need to be incorporated :-

System for Cancellation of expired Licenses.

License Number Authentication / Check Genuineness of License

list of Products

Mobile numbers to be Updated

Product wise report (As has been provided for dealers‟ information, similar view

should be there Product wise also i.e. State, district, product combo box etc.

Option of advance search in the form of combo boxes to be provided for end users.

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Hyperlinks to be provided in the In Tabular view.

Look & feel of the Tabular view to be improved with the help of designer.

“District wise Stock Availability - within “5 days” “OR“ overall total stock Availability”.

Fertilizer pricing information also to be made available.

A particular wholesaler covers which districts. (maintain district wise track)

The application should also be able to keep record of following :-

Frequency of wholesaler sales.

Dealers‟ receipts with date time.

Dealers‟ sale to farmers

Wholesalers‟ jurisdiction

Dealers‟ information for subscription for USSD for entering sales & stock

data.

B: Forecasted Weather Related Specific Recommendations

Season wise crop should be displayed.

Provision of uploading logo like those of Universities, AMFU be made.

An interface is required for adding new variety at district level.

Header of logged AMFU and logo should be displayed in generated bulletin.

Provision of multiple crop selection required.

In crop Advisory report format is overlapping.

In generated bulletin advisory should come for sector and crop wise.

Provision for regional language advisory.

Block level advisory should be kept separate to avoid time taken in generating bulletin.

SMS/web/Email should have same advisory.

Generated bulletin can be emailed as attachment.

Explore possibility for English and local language advisory in the same page.

Like IMD, CRIDA and KCC sending advisories to farmer. Suggested that advisories

should be from one source to avoid confusion. IMD can be made one source.

There is a requirement to refine existing Pest database so that it can be put to use.

It was felt that there is a need to popularise the Forecasted Weather Advisory module in

the States as it is ready for the purpose.

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03 Nov 2014

There are 02 modules in this service one for Database of Weather & another Module for

advisories crop wise

Refining of Pest Database should be done.

Forecast & Past Data of weather should be converted into digitally interpretable

database& shared with States, DM Division & MNCFC

C: Micro Irrigation Related Specific Recommendations (Karnataka)

Land number should be linked with Khatauni number to avoid the duplicities of

beneficiaries. Khata indicates ownership. Shri Karthikeyan informed that linking to Bhumi

records is being done.

Survey number should be checked electronically.

Geo-tagging should be done.

First come first serve basis against random (lottery) selection of beneficiaries was

discussed at length. It was discussed that targets should be given to each panchayat

and within panchayat lottery system may be adopted. Randomization should be done

electronically and publicly. Committee should be there to check whether randomization

has been done randomly. Technical and administrative persons to be included in the

committee. Sanction should be automated. Human intervention should be removed

wherever possible.

Date should be included in the dashboard screen of Micro irrigation system. It should be

ordered by date.

The Application should be linked to e-Taal, so that transactions will be counted and

reflected against State name.

The Application processing should start once the application is received online. Decision

may be taken only when physical copy along with all requisite documents is received.

Information on Irrigation equipment‟s, their dealers and manufacturers to be provided via

USSD.

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D: Drought Relief Management Related Specific Recommendations

Preparation of Contingency plan by district agricultural officers.

Guidelines have to be taken from Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture

(CRIDA) and SAU

Implementation of contingency plan (a) Input requirements (b)Alerting farmers through

SMS

Input screen should be prepared for collection of indicators/parameters [Rainfall

Deviation Index, moisture adequacy Index, Crop yield (CCE), Crop sown area,

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)] for declaration of drought at block level.

The state department has to confirm whether these parameters are available at block

level. At least 3 indicators should be fulfill to declare the drought.

The information on all the parameters mentioned in NDRF guidelines for resources

required to manage the drought situation should be collected.

Fodder requirement

Seed requirement

Fertilizer requirement etc.