Agriculture 4.0 also known as the agricultural revolution will turn the sector upside down in both the urban and rural senses as it brings forth the Internet of things, vertical farming, and mobile apps. What these modern changes offer is enhancing food security, optimization of resource use, and better income for farmers. Here, India can stand in a prime position because it has such extensive land for agriculture.
| GS Paper | GS Paper III |
| Topics for UPSC Prelims | Internet of Things, Green Revolution, eNAM, Soil Health Card scheme, India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture, National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture, National Mission on Horticulture, PM-KISAN Scheme, BharatNet project, Farmer Producer Organizations. |
| Topics for UPSC Mains | Benefits of Agriculture 4.0, Key Roadblocks to Implementation of Agri 4.0 in India. |
This editorial is based on “Agriculture 4.0: How urban farming is shaping the future of food security in smart cities,” published in Hindu Business Line on 23/09/2024. The article discusses the role of smart technologies in revolutionizing farming and enhancing food security.
Understanding Agriculture 4.0 is crucial for UPSC aspirants as it covers key areas of the General Studies Paper-3 syllabus, including agricultural marketing and food security. Knowledge of this topic aids in grasping modern agricultural practices and their implications, which are essential for both prelims and main examinations.
Agriculture 4.0 is doing the rounds in mainstream media because it is a means of transforming the approach to farming and incorporates IoT, AI, and vertical farming. Something like this comes with an emerging importance in the context of UPSC aspirants because it speaks to many salient issues dominating GS Paper 3: food security, sustainable agriculture, and digital transformation in agriculture. Earlier, this was often explored by UPSC in the form of questions related to the Green Revolution, precision farming, and digital agriculture. Hence, being well-versed in Agriculture 4.0 is extremely essential for both prelims as well as main examinations.
Agriculture 4.0 is the new revolution in farming practices through digitized advanced technologies for optimally managing food and resources. It improves on traditional agriculture techniques by using the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, robotics, and precision farming.
Agriculture 4.0, also known as smart or digital farming, represents the most advanced technologies used for transforming farming. IoT, AI, machine learning, big data, robotics, and precision farming are deployed to optimize inputs and improve crop management. All this leads to more efficient and productive farming operations.
It has experienced important changes. Agriculture 1.0 was characterized by a transition from hunting-gathering to settled agriculture about 10,000 BCE. Its2.0 version defines the industrial era, with mechanization, irrigation, crop rotation, and chemical fertilizers. Agriculture 3.0, known as the Green Revolution, introduced high yield crop varieties, expanded irrigation, and synthetic fertilizers for a prosperous modern agriculture.
Agriculture 4.0 can also provide several advantages to further improve the productivity sustainability and resilience of farming. It could transform techniques of traditional agricultural methods into more efficient and sustainable practices through the incorporation of new technologies.
Precision farming techniques, in combination with IoT sensors, optimize inputs such as water and fertilizers, which therefore improves crop yields significantly. For instance, a joint partnership between Microsoft and ICRISAT led to the development of an AI-powered sowing app that increased yields of groundnuts by 30 percent in Andhra Pradesh.
It promotes sustainable farming practices while encouraging smart irrigation systems and precision application of fertilizers. For example, the Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project showed water savings of 40-50%, which lets the public know how technology can enhance resource efficiency as well as agriculture sustainability.
Advanced weather forecasting and an early warning system will improve the adaptation of farmers toward climate change. CRIDA’s ‘Meghdoot’ app provides weather-based agro advisories, enabling the farmer to make rational decisions in times of extreme weather events that would otherwise affect the production.
Blockchain and digital platforms improve supply chains and market access. The eNAM platform connects farmers with buyers, improves traceability and transparency of farmers’ produce, and enrolls more than 1.69 crore farmers, thereby improving market access and post-harvest losses.
High-volume and high-velocity big data, paired with AI, would allow predictive analytics so one can make informed decisions. Projects such as FASAL use satellite imagery and machine learning algorithms to predict crop yields with more than 90% accuracy. Thus, it develops national food security planning and helps farmers make better decisions.
Technical information on agriculture is delivered by mobile applications and artificial intelligence-based chatbots to smallholder farmers. A few examples include the Kisan Suvidha and IFFCO Kisan apps, which can provide information like personalized advice to the farmer about crops and pest control, and market prices.
Examples of the great impacts that Agriculture 4.0 brings to the world through technology and innovation to bring change to people involved in farming.
A former automobile engineer, Pramod adopted modern farming techniques and shifted to horticulture; currently, his dal mill and horticulture business clocks a turnover of Rs. 1 crore annually.
A mechanical engineer turned farmer, Sachin started a clean energy farm and now runs the revenue-generating business to support the cause of the farmers by contract farming, turning around with a turnover amount of Rs 2 crores.
Harish, who quit his job in the government sector, is an Aloe Vera farmer. Due to the facilitation of digital platforms and market research, he scaled up from 100 acres and earned between Rs 1.5 to 2 crores per year.
Farmers like Vishwanath are earning high revenues through multi-cropping and efficient farm management such as drip irrigation. Vishwanath earned Rs. 7 lakh from one acre of his farmland in drought-prone Beed, Maharashtra.
Rajiv is a chartered accountant who took up farming, and these years he has used modern techniques to bring around Rs. 15-16 lakh annually through diversified crops on leased land.
These are some of the key limitations against the general adoption of Agriculture 4.0 in India at such a scale; it can be posed by limited digital infrastructure, small landholdings, scarcity of financial resources, and lack of awareness and digital literacy among farmers.
Full-scale deployment of digital technology is not possible because the digital infrastructures in rural areas are not adequate. For example, while IT/BT initiatives such as Digital India have been announced, connectivity at the last mile remains a problem since even in states like Bihar and Jharkhand many villages are not yet connected by mobile or internet.
Larger landholdings would not be easy to implement large-scale technologies because an average Indian landholding is only 1.08 hectares, which also complicates the handling of precision farming machinery and collection of data.
Agriculture 4.0 technologies therefore require high up-front investment costs-a lot of money for implementing such “enhanced” solutions. Although schemes like Kisan Credit Card improve access to credit, many small farmers simply cannot afford to pay the investments it takes to create a high-tech farm.
Low awareness and poor digital literacy within the farming community continue to be one of the barriers against the acceptance of technology. Today, at the end of 2023, only 30% of Indian farmers are using digital technologies in their agricultural practices, and a mere 25% of rural India is digitally literate.
Lack of standard agricultural data: Agreed, data generation – lacks a unified platform to standardize data for effective integration and utilization. The Soil Health Card scheme is an initiative that generates data, but some lack effective integration and utilization without a unified data platform.
The diversified agro-climatic zones and socio-economic disparities within India are the primary characteristics affecting the introduction and application of technology. Irrigation and rain-fed areas need different technologies, which are inapplicable in one area but feasible in the other. Therefore, there is a gap in the adoption of technology between progressive and marginalized communities.
The recent government efforts have been in an attempt to promote various initiatives that intend to enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability for the digitalization of agriculture in India.
India Needs Strategic Measures to Properly Implement Agriculture 4.0-Unless these challenges are met, the widespread use of advanced technologies will not be fruitful in farming.
Public-private partnerships can speed up the development of rural digital infrastructure. Private telecom operators have been involved in BharatNet to give this work a quicker push and have helped expand last-mile connectivity for implementing digital agriculture services.
Therefore, this is one of the ways promoting FPOs helps agriculture at scale look forward to adopting more Agriculture 4.0 technologies. The efforts put into strengthening FPOs such as Sahyadri Farms are witnesses to how collective efforts come into direct play in precision farming techniques and other advanced technology implementations.
Thus, particular financial products and relevant digital literacy programs can address this financial as well as knowledge gap. Low-interest loans and schemes like PMGDISHA can enhance the capacities of farmers to adopt and utilize Agriculture 4.0 technologies properly.
Now, detailed standardized frameworks should be established that support data collection, storage, and sharing. Through the IDEA framework, a unified, open-source agricultural data platform can be built, thereby supporting AI and ML models for precision agriculture.
A regulatory sandbox may be helpful to innovation in that testing of new technologies under real-world conditions might be performed under controlled conditions. Expansion of drone regulations to create test zones for advanced applications may help accelerate precision agriculture innovation development.
KVKs can develop and disseminate localized agri-tech solutions, which can address diverse agro-climatic conditions. These centers can be used as lead centers for demonstrating and tailoring the Agriculture 4.0 technologies to meet local-specific requirements.
Modern Agritech Introduction to Agriculture Education Curricula Guarantees the Skilled Workforce Agreements between tech companies and institutions of learning, for example, Microsoft and the ICAR linking industrial expertise with education would prepare the next generation of more technologically friendly agricultural professionals.
| Political: Government initiatives like PM-KISAN and NeGP-A promote technology adoption, while policies regulating AI and IoT ensure data privacy and fair competition. Public-private partnerships can enhance rural digital infrastructure. Economic: High technology costs pose barriers for small-scale farmers, but automation and precision farming increase productivity. Digital platforms like eNAM enhance farmer incomes by reducing intermediaries, though credit access remains limited. Social: Limited digital literacy among rural farmers hampers technology adoption. Automation may displace manual labor, requiring reskilling. However, improved productivity and resilience can increase farmer incomes and reduce socio-economic disparities. Technological: Emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and data analytics optimize farming efficiency. Data-driven decision-making, blockchain for supply chain transparency, and smart irrigation systems reduce resource wastage and improve productivity significantly. Environmental: Smart farming techniques optimize resource usage, reducing waste and promoting sustainability. Climate resilience improves through better forecasting, though increased monoculture risks reducing biodiversity, potentially impacting ecosystems negatively. Legal: Data privacy and intellectual property rights are critical for smart farming’s growth. Fragmented landholdings complicate large-scale technology adoption, while international trade regulations influence global technology distribution in agriculture. |
Agriculture 4.0 is transforming Indian farming by integrating advanced technologies to enhance productivity, sustainability, and resilience. However, addressing challenges like limited digital infrastructure, small landholdings, and financial constraints is crucial for widespread adoption. With strategic public-private partnerships and localized solutions, Agriculture 4.0 can revolutionize India’s agricultural landscape, ensuring food security and empowering farmers.
| UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs) Mains Q. How can the ‘Digital India’ program help farmers to improve farm productivity and income? What steps has the government taken in this regard? (2015, GS Paper-III). Q. Discuss the impact of Agriculture 4.0 on sustainable farming and food security in India. How can IoT and AI-based technologies enhance productivity while addressing environmental challenges? |
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