Kerala Empowers New High-Level Panel to Manage Digital Agricultural Repositories
The Kerala government has established an 11-member body led by the Chief Secretary to oversee the AgriStack digital infrastructure. This committee serves as the fiduciary custodian for vital farmer, land, and crop data.
Key takeaways
- Chief Secretary leads a new 11-member panel governing Kerala's agricultural digital public infrastructure.
- The committee acts as the fiduciary custodian for farmer identity, land records, and crop-sown registries.
- The initiative aligns with the Union government's 'State Core Handover Support' program launched in 2025.
- Data managed by the SADGC will determine the distribution of subsidies and implementation of agricultural welfare schemes.
- The panel includes representatives from the Law, Revenue, IT, and Land Records departments to ensure cross-sectoral oversight.
Establishment of the State AgriStack Data Governance Committee
In a formal order issued on July 25, the Kerala Agriculture Department established the 11-member State AgriStack Data Governance Committee (SADGC). The Chief Secretary leads this body, which acts as the official institutional architecture for managing detailed digitised information regarding the state’s farming industry. This move follows the Union government's September 2025 guidelines, which directed states to take full control of the AgriStack operational backbone via the 'State Core Handover Support' initiative.
Data Stewardship and Oversight Functions
The SADGC functions as the primary fiduciary custodian of all AgriStack data in Kerala. The government maintains this information in public trust for the benefit of the agricultural community. According to the departmental order, the committee's responsibilities include:
- Evaluating and deciding on requests for data access and utilization.
- Defining state-specific safeguards, compliance standards, and usage conditions.
- Serving as the central nodal authority for coordination with the Union government.
- Overseeing the fiduciary and approval processes required for digital public infrastructure.
The Digital Agriculture Mission Framework
AgriStack represents a core component of the Centre’s Digital Agriculture Mission, designed to function as a unified 'source of truth' for the identity of farmers, land ownership, and specific crop types. The infrastructure integrates three primary databases: village maps with geo-referencing, a registry of farmers, and a crop-sown registry. This institutional oversight is necessary because the government intends to use this data to streamline the disbursement of subsidies and the execution of various agricultural welfare programs.
Composition of the Governance Panel
The committee brings together leaders from across the state's administrative spectrum. The Additional Chief Secretary and Agricultural Production Commissioner serves as the member secretary. Additional members include the secretaries representing the Law, Revenue, and Electronics and Information Technology departments. The panel also features directors from the Kerala State IT Mission, the Agriculture Department, Survey and Land Records, and the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre, alongside the Land Revenue Commissioner and the State coordinator of the National Informatics Centre.
Source: The Hindu — Sci-Tech
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