Current Affairs

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches the upgraded Agri Welfare Portal

21-10-2026 · English

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches the upgraded Agri Welfare Portal

Topics: Agriculture · 21 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the upgraded 'Agri Welfare Portal' in New Delhi on 19 Oct 2026. It is a 'single-window gateway' that lets farmers access schemes, subsidies, rules and digital services on their mobile phones without visiting offices – integrating PM-KISAN, AgriStack and the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. A nationwide training drive through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) will help farmers use it.

Key facts

Launch19 Oct 2026 – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, New Delhi; NIC officials attended
IntegratesPM-KISAN, AgriStack, PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
FeaturesEligibility check, online application, DBT, weather, seed & fertiliser stock, market prices
AccessWorks on basic smartphones and weak internet; screen-reader support for persons with disabilities
ConnectsFPOs, PACS, scientists, researchers, start-ups
TrainingNationwide training through KVKs

Background

  • Schemes: PM-KISAN – 24 Feb 2019, Gorakhpur (UP); ₹6,000 a year in three DBT instalments. Digital Agriculture Mission – Cabinet approval Sep 2024; its core is 'AgriStack' (farmers' registry, crop-sown registry, geo-referenced village maps). PMFBY – 2016.
  • Credit, soil: Kisan Credit Card (KCC) – Aug 1998; NABARD prepared the model scheme on the R.V. Gupta Committee's advice; extended to fisheries and animal husbandry in 2019. Soil Health Card scheme – 19 Feb 2015, Suratgarh (Rajasthan).
  • Set-up: the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is under the Union Agriculture Ministry; it was renamed from the 'Department of Agriculture and Cooperation' in 2015. Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) are district-level farm science centres under ICAR.

Tamil Nadu link: India's first Krishi Vigyan Kendra was started in 1974 at Puducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (Mohan Singh Mehta Committee). In 2018 the Tamil Nadu government launched the bilingual 'Uzhavan' mobile app for farmers (subsidies, crop insurance, machinery booking, seed & fertiliser stock, weather).

Source: News On AIR, DD India, The Hans India (IANS), The Policy Edge, 19 Oct 2026; TNAU Agritech (KVK); GKToday (Uzhavan, 2018); Wikipedia (KCC)

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