Kisan Saarathi is a digital platform launched on 93rd Foundation Day celebration of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to facilitate farmers to get ‘right information at right time’ in their desired language. ICAR celebrated its foundation day virtually on July 16th 2021.
This article aims to provide relevant details on the Kisan Sarathi Program, as it is important for the current affairs section of various competitive exams.
Aspirants preparing for the upcoming IAS exam can encounter questions on agriculture and governmental initiatives to boost it; where smart mention of Kisan Sarathi App will be useful.
Candidates can mark this topic under the UPSC Mains GS Paper I, GS Paper II and Essay.
| Aspirants can check their preparation by attempting the UPSC Previous Years Question Papers now!!
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Kisan Saarathi Platform – Overview
- Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Shri Ashwini Vaishnav respectively have jointly launched ‘Kisan Sarathi’,
- Through this platform, the farmers can interact and avail personalised advisories on agriculture and allied areas directly from the respective scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs).
- It will empower farmers with technological interventions, new farming methods and will enable farmers to reach remote areas.
- The app Kisan Sarathi will facilitate officials to monitor daily activities like farmer registration, live calls, messages, advisories given and pending.
- It will be highly valuable not only in addressing the location specific information needs of the farmers but also in Agricultural Extension, Education and Research activities of ICAR.
About ICAR
- ICAR stands for Indian Council for Agricultural Research. It is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- ICAR is headquartered in New Delhi and was established in 1929.
- The Union Minister of Agriculture serves as the president of ICAR.
- The body is responsible for cooFsilrdinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country.
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Government Initiatives to promote agriculture
- Soil Health Cards – SHC – A report farmers will be provided for each of their land holdings. With the available soil health card, farmers can plan the future of their crops and land. They can also study soil management practices.
- Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme – NBS is administered by the Department of Fertilizers under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. Under this, a fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis is provided on each grade of subsidized Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers, except for Urea, based on the nutrient content present in them.
- PUSA Krishi – The app will provide farmers with information related to new varieties of crops developed by (ICAR), resource conserving cultivation practices as well as farm machinery and its implementation will help in increasing returns to farmers.
- Kisan Credit Card Scheme (KCC) – KCC simplifies the procedure for farmers in getting adequate and timely credit. It covers post-harvest expenses, consumption requirements, investment in credit requirements for agricultural and allied activities. The scheme is implemented by Commercial Banks, Small finance banks and cooperatives.
- APMC-Agricultural Produce Market Committee – limits the occurrence of Distress Sale by the farmers under the pressure and exploitation of creditors and other intermediaries. It is responsible for the regulation of agricultural trading practices.
Aspirants must go through the relevant related links provided below to assist their preparation for the upcoming UPSC Prelims and Mains examination –
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