Decades ago , author Dale Carnegie wrote a very popular
book titled :
“ How to Influence People
and Win Friends “
During his budget speech , Shri Piyush Goyal said :
“ Ek Kadam Uthe
, to Sau Rahe Khul
Jaati
Hain “
It could be paraphrased as :
How to influence farmers and win votes !
One of those “ kadams ( steps ) “ was :
A Direct Income Support of Rs 6,000 per year to small
and marginal farmers
( Marginal = those holding less than 1 hectare / Small
= those holding between 1 to 2 hectares )
As per available data ,
# Total number
of farmers qualifying = 125 Million
# They
constitute 86.21 % of all farmers
[ therefore , total numbers of farmers must
be 145 million ]
# They hold
47.34 % of total area
But the main problems likely
to be faced while implementing this scheme , are :
# Unreliable and insufficient land records in most
states
# Dependence on humans to collect / compile
/ record such data ( takes weeks / months )
( The state agriculture department will write to
district collectors, who will ask sub divisional magistrates, tehsildars and
patwaris ( land record keepers ) to collect the required information. )
In addition to this just announced PM-KISAN yojana of Direct
Income Support , farmers are currently being assisted in the following
ways :
Input Subsidies :
Input Price Subsidies are given for Seeds – Fertilizers – Power (
Diesel / Electricity )
Price
Support :
This is given in the form of MSP ( 50 % more than the production cost of food item )
Crop
Insurance :
A certain amount being given to compensate a farmer in
case of loss due to ,
# drought ( lack
of enough water in the soil ), or
# floods
destroying crop ( excess of water in the soil )
All of these existing “ Support Mechanisms “
also require,
# computation of the amount of money to be handed out to a farmer, and
# distribution of the amounts so determined
Both of these are “ Human controlled Processes “ , which by their very
nature , are slow and inefficient
What is worse , in many cases there is an element of “ human judgement “ ,
making them arbitrary !
No wonder these processes lead to leakages / corruption
/ frustration / distress !
Can we
take help of TECHNOLOGY to solve these problems ?
Yes , of course !
All that is required is ,
# a genuine desire
on part of the political parties [ to really stop
farmer suicides ]
# a readiness to
“ compromise “ on part of the farmers [ for speeding
up the disbursal ]
# a willingness
on part of the “ bureaucrats “ [ to transfer the decisions to Technology ]
What
Technology ?
We need technologies which will , dynamically / automatically , compute for each
crop ,
# the costs of
all the INPUTS (water-fertilizer-seeds-power –labour ), based on NORMS
# “ Output “ from
the area of land owned by these farmers ( in Kg )
# MSP ( since
INPUTS will vary from crop-to-crop and area-to-area )
# transfer the
amount to Jan Dhan bank accounts of each beneficiary farmer ( DBT )
It is possible to get our constellation of 7 NaviC satellites to “ map / geotag
“ , each and every farm ( with a resolution of 1 meter ) and calculate its area
This can be verified by using technology offered by…. what3words
For each type of crop , INPUT NORMS are already established , using historical data
OUTPUTS
NORMS ( kg / acre ) for different crops , are
statistically established figures
“ Agricultural
Crop Assessment “ is being offered
by Planet
, BlackSky, Satellogic
“ Humidity
Sensors “ developed by Dr Shalini
Prasad
As far as CROP
INSURANCE is concerned, Remote
Sensing Satellites are already being deployed
I realize that experts ( agriculture and
economy ) might laugh , if I urge Shri Modiji :
Give our Scientists and Software Engineers a
chance to develop such a TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM , based on the following matrix ,
which will ensure DBT to our farmers , within 24 hours of pre-determined EVENTS
or DATES or CABINET DECISION ANNOUNCEMENTS , without the delay and
arbitrariness of “ human intervention “
But , I cannot escape a feeling that the party
( BJP or Congress ) which incorporates my suggestion in its ELECTION MANIFESTO
, is bound to :
“ Influence 145 million farmers and win their
votes “
Who knows , I might have the last-but-one laugh
[ last laugh being reserved for the farmers ]
========================================================================
05 Feb 2019
Rsvp : hcp@RecruitGuru.com
Added on 14 Oct 2020 :
https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-alphabet-building-farming-robot?mc_eid=a96c428172&mc_cid=813732adea
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