Digitisation of PACS to Enhance Indian Agriculture

Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani announced that the digitisation of all Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) will be completed by end of this year or January 2025. The government also urged maize farmers to register on the farmers' portal for procurement under the Ethanol Blending Programme, aiming to strengthen PACS and incentivise maize and pulses production.

In a major step toward modernizing India's agricultural sector, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani stated on Tuesday that the digitisation of all Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) will be accomplished by the end of this year or January 2025.

The Ministry is also preparing to procure maize at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and has urged maize farmers to register on the farmers' portal for procurement by the National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) under the Ethanol Blending Programme.

This initiative promises significant benefits for both farmers and the Ethanol Blending Programme. So far, 67,930 PACS from 30 states and Union territories have been earmarked for the project. As of August 30, 31,301 PACS across 29 States/UTs have been onboarded on the ERP software, and 21,477 PACS have gone live. Additionally, 54,654 PACS have received necessary hardware for digitisation. A central share of Rs 654.23 crore has been allocated to states/UTs for procuring hardware and establishing a support system.

(With inputs from agencies.)