Kisan Sarathi Platform for Digital Agriculture
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Why in News
- The **Kisan Sarathi** platform is advancing digital agriculture in India by bringing agricultural advisories, expert help, weather forecasts, market rates, and government scheme details together on a single portal.
About Kisan Sarathi Platform
- The government launched Kisan Sarathi in **July 2021** as India's largest integrated digital platform for agricultural advisories.
- It operates as a joint venture between the **Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology** and the **Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare**. The **Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute** and **Digital India Corporation** manage its implementation.
Institutional Network and Technology Backbone
- The platform links farmers directly with **Krishi Vigyan Kendras**, **Indian Council of Agricultural Research** institutes, agricultural universities, and domain experts using the **Interactive Information Dissemination System** for personalized two-way communication.
Integrated Digital Services
- It brings key government initiatives together, including the **Kisan Call Centre**, **Common Service Centre**, **India Meteorological Department**, **MyScheme**, and **BHASHINI**.
- By merging language assistance, weather updates, and service delivery on one digital portal, the platform has successfully resolved over **19.21 lakh** farmer queries so far.
Farmer Services
- Farmers receive region-specific technical guidance, local weather alerts, current mandi prices, market trends, instructional videos, online consultations, scheme discovery tools, and updates on **PM-KISAN**.
Key Features and Coverage
- Key features include customized advisories tailored to individual farm profiles, real-time guidance in **13 regional languages**, direct phone assistance, location-specific alert notifications, easy online registration, and access to a central farming knowledge hub.
Significance
- The platform strengthens **lab-to-land knowledge transfer**, improves decision-making for farmers, assists **Krishi Vigyan Kendras**, provides field insights to policymakers, and builds a more connected, resilient, and productive digital farming ecosystem.