GANGTOK: The Agriculture department in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MOA&FW), Government of India, organized a one-day National Conference on Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES) at the conference hall of SAMETI, Tadong on September 27.
The conference was chaired by Jigmee Dorjee Bhutia, secretary of Agriculture department, along with Ruchika Gupta, Advisor-MOA&FW, and Ms Sonia Sharma, additional Statistical Advisor-MOA&FW.
Also present were Rajen Thapa, director of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Agriculture department, and Jagdish Pradhan, director of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Agriculture department.
Officials from the Agriculture Census, and web application experts from Government of India, including Abishek Kumar, Senior Statistical Officer – MOA&FW, Biju Babu Raj, Consultant-MOA&FW, and Pushkar Dhawan, were also in attendance.
District heads, deputy directors from all districts of Sikkim, and participants representing the North Eastern States of Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Manipur, along with officials from agriculture and allied sectors, were present.
In his keynote address, Jigmee Dorjee Bhutia emphasized the significance of digital tools in crop estimation and how these technologies can improve the efficiency of data collection and analysis. He expressed his delight in hosting the National Conference on the much-needed DGCES and remarked that Sikkim and other hilly States would benefit from such schemes. He highlighted that the Integrated Crop Survey (ICS), which covers the entire state of Sikkim, will serve as the foundation for all future census data.
Bhutia stressed on the significance of spreading knowledge through training programs across Sikkim and sought collaborations with the central government to execute these initiatives for the state’s long-term prosperity. He urged participants to seize this opportunity to upgrade their technical expertise and share it with others.
In her welcome address, Rachna Gurung, additional director of Agriculture Census emphasized the importance of the DGCES system and its relevance in the modern agricultural framework, particularly for North Eastern States, including Sikkim. She discussed the challenges faced during the implementation of the program and explained that this is the first time Sikkim has hosted a regional workshop for the seven North Eastern States, excluding Mizoram. The primary objective of the conference was to digitalize the web portal and mobile application for crop cutting to overcome challenges in field operations and to better understand the new methods.
Ruchika Gupta provided a detailed briefing on the DGCES system, explaining its functionalities and benefits in ensuring accurate and timely crop data. Expressing hope that the system would play a key role in enabling evidence-based decision-making for agricultural policies, she highlighted the benefits of DGCES, such as increased transparency, reduced workload for field surveyors, and improved data quality.
Gupta proposed the idea of engaging with the State Agriculture Statistics Authority encouraging collaboration with Digital Agriculture to boost and further accelerate growth in the State.
The event included technical sessions on web portal and mobile application training. Sonia Sharma led the session on Mobile Application Training, while Biju Babu Raj conducted the Web Portal Training, providing practical insights and hands-on learning opportunities for participants.
The conference concluded with an interaction and discussion session, where attendees shared their thoughts on the implementation of DGCES and its potential benefits for Sikkim’s agricultural future.
The session ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr Anjana Pradhan, Agriculture Developmental Officer (ADO).
- IPR Report
