Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has called upon southern states to implement the decisions and commitments made during the Regional Agriculture Conference within the stipulated timelines, stressing that agricultural meetings must lead to measurable outcomes on the ground.
Addressing the concluding session of the conference in Hyderabad, Chouhan said the Centre and states must function as a unified agriculture team comprising government officials, scientists, farmers and agricultural institutions. He emphasised that the discussions held during the conference would have little meaning unless states translated them into concrete action.
The Minister said states should honour deadlines announced for various agricultural initiatives, citing Farmer ID generation as an example. If a state has committed to completing the process by December, it must ensure that the target is achieved within that timeframe. He said there was no need to repeatedly discuss the same issues if decisions had already been taken, but effective implementation was essential.
Focus on delivery rather than meetings
Chouhan stressed that the purpose of the conference was to improve the situation of farmers rather than simply hold discussions. He called for coordinated efforts among central and state governments, agricultural scientists and farmers to deliver tangible results.
Recalling the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, he said states would be able to organise agricultural outreach programmes according to their schedules, with scientists from the Union government and Krishi Vigyan Kendras participating in these initiatives. Scientists would visit villages and farms, interact directly with farmers and discuss agricultural issues alongside officials from state agriculture departments.
The initiative is aimed at strengthening the connection between agricultural research and farming communities and ensuring that scientific knowledge reaches farmers directly.
States urged to speed up Farmer ID and AgriStack
The Agriculture Minister also reviewed progress under AgriStack and the Farmer ID initiative. He noted that Telangana and Karnataka had crossed 75 per cent completion in Farmer ID generation. Progress in georeferencing has also been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana.
According to the Minister, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have completed their Digital Crop Survey. However, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands need to accelerate Farmer ID generation.
Chouhan said Farmer ID would become an important component of several agricultural systems in the coming years and urged states to complete the exercise within the prescribed deadlines so that no region is left behind.
Land records and farmer registry integration
The Minister called for faster linking of land parcels with digital agricultural records, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Kerala was also asked to improve coordination between land-record databases and the Farmer Registry.
He further directed southern states to prepare and notify Standard Operating Procedures for tenant farmers, including sharecroppers and agricultural tenants. Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were specifically asked to take up this work. Puducherry and Lakshadweep were advised to undertake georeferencing of village maps.
Bharat Vistar to expand regional language access
Chouhan highlighted Bharat Vistar, a digital system designed to provide farmers with agricultural advice through mobile phones. Currently available in Hindi and English, the platform is planned to expand to 13 regional languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
The Minister said farmers should be able to ask questions and receive responses in their own languages. He also directed that state government schemes be integrated with Bharat Vistar at the earliest.
Research to move from laboratory to farms
Highlighting the role of India’s large scientific network, Chouhan said the country has around 16,000 agricultural scientists working through institutions such as ICAR, KVKs and agricultural universities. He said research should not remain confined to laboratories and must reach farmers through direct engagement.
He expressed the broader goal of making India a leading global agricultural nation and strengthening its role as a major food-producing country.
Rabi Conference scheduled for September 28–29
Chouhan announced that the Rabi Conference will be held at the Pusa Institute in New Delhi on September 28 and 29. Agriculture Ministers and officials from states will participate with detailed Rabi-season plans.
The conference will assess crop choices and proposed acreage, followed by planning for seed availability, fertiliser requirements and other essential agricultural inputs.
The Hyderabad conference was attended by Ministers of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary, Agriculture Ministers from Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, senior ministry officials, Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra, and Secretary DARE and ICAR Director General Dr M. L. Jat.
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Author: Shivam
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