Prayagraj: Initiating significant steps to make the agricultural sector in Uttar Pradesh digital and transparent, efforts are underway to link farmers with government schemes and streamline the agricultural system through the Digital Crop Survey (DCS). The DCS exercise has also offered employment to a large number of unemployed rural based youths who have earned substantial income through the initiative. The state government has launched the Digital Crop Survey to conduct real-time assessments of crop losses caused by natural disasters and to maximize the reach of government schemes to farmers. While this initiative creates a comprehensive profile of farmers’ fields for the ‘Farmer Registry,’ it has also become a source of temporary income for thousands of unemployed rural youths.Deputy Director (Agriculture), Pawan Kumar Vishwakarma, said that as many as 3,410 rural based youths have earned income from the Digital Crop Survey during this year’s Rabi, Kharif, and Zaid cropping seasons. He added, “A total of Rs 2.65 crore is being transferred to the accounts of these youths in the district so far”.Rural youths who own an android mobile phone can apply for this opportunity and benefit from it.Ashish Kumar, a resident of Alawalpur in the Soraon Tehsil of Prayagraj, is one such individual. Ashish explains that coming from a rural background, he was unable to continue his education after completing his B.A. Meanwhile, the agriculture department announced openings for ‘Digital Crop Surveyors,’ a role that required applicants to simply possess an android mobile phone. Ashish said that he began working as a Digital Crop Surveyor and earned over Rs 48,000 during the survey of the Zaid crop season this year.Vishwakarma said said that digital surveys of fields and crops are being conducted across a large number of villages in the district and this initiative is aimed to generate accurate crop-related data and ensure that farmers receive the benefits of government schemes in a transparent manner. To date, the survey work has been completed for 14,25,805 agricultural plots.
