Centre Allows Exemption of Non-farming Lands From Digital Crop Survey
VIJAYAWADA: The central government has given significant flexibility to the ongoing Digital Crop Survey (DCS) under the e-Panta programme, allowing fallow lands, aquaculture areas and non-agricultural areas to be excluded from the digital recording process.
Director of Agriculture Dr Manazir Jilaani Samoon announced that the decision is aimed at expediting the completion of e-Panta registration for the Kharif-2025 season as the October 30 deadline approaches.
Samoon directed district agriculture officers to ensure that all field staff complete the registration within the stipulated time. He explained that land that is unsuitable or inaccessible for survey, such as roads, canals and residential areas, will now be exempt from the process.
Following the Central guidelines issued in July, the State Agriculture Department has brought down 2.92 crore land parcels from Rythu Seva Kendras (RSKs) for survey purposes.
As per district-wise progress, Prakasam leads with 71 per cent completion rate, followed by Kakinada (68 per cent) and Anantapur (67 per cent). Visakhapatnam (33 percent), ASR (38 percent) and Anakapalli (39 percent) remain at the lower end.
Since the launch of the e-Panta app on July 15, 1.59 crore land parcels have been registered and 55 per cent have been completed. Most of the remaining 1.33 crore plots are uncultivable or inaccessible and only a small portion is subject to active cultivation.
Samoon said that in the review meeting held with Agristack chief Rajeev Chawla at the State Secretariat, the State’s request to exempt arable and non-agricultural lands was approved. The National Informatics Center (NIC) has since developed a new application module for RSKs to identify and register such lands within two days, citing valid reasons for exemption.
