Technological advancements in agriculture under the governance of Prabhakar Deshmukh

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh, currently the Secretary ofAgriculture and E.G.S. is now actively encouraging group farming. Group farming is now a major thing in Pune after Mr. Deshmukh gave it more encouragement. He undertook a lot of projects and managed them too, which gave a boost to agriculture.

With the vision of creating a technologically sound agriculture in the city of Pune, he encouraged a lot of projects under his governance when Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh was the Divisional Commissioner of Pune city. One of the best projects that took place under his governance was Crop Pest Surveillance & Advisory Project-for pest management on major crops in Maharashtra

This was to ensure a smooth recovery of crops that were lost due to severe outbreak of soybean crop in the state of Maharashtra. For this, the state government had also granted a compensation of Rs. 450 crore to the farmers. In this project, a scientific software was developed to analyse the data on-line. This gave rise to dependency on software for agricultural purposes. Weekly data were made available online for experts to analyse. Here technology played a vital role. Again, this was all done under the guidance of Mr.Prabhakar Deshmukh.

Click here to know more about CROPSAP.

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh during his governance

Prabhakar Deshmukh has the distinction of being felicitated by the Prime Minister for excellence in administration during his tenure as the CEO of the Zila Parishad of Kolhapur. Currently, he is the Secretary of Water Conservation and E.G.S. since September, 2014. 

Some of the projects which Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh carried out under his governance are as follows:

• Jalyukt Gaon Abhiyaan,Pune Division

• Crop Pest Surveillance & Advisory Project-for pest management on major crops in Maharashtra

• Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (Marathi Version)

• Amrutwel Governance Magazine (Cropsap Article)

Having completed M.Sc (Agri) he has also received Silver Medal for 1st rank in subject Agronomy at Agriculture College Pune. Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh also served as the commissioner who was one of the first officials to go visit a school and check its functionalities. This was a one-of-a-kind move from Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh along with many other officials. Check out some of his greatest achievements while he was serving the state of Maharashtra here.

Role of technology in agriculture

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh, who is currently the Secretary of Water Conservation of Maharashtra has participated in a number of initiatives that improve the condition of farming in the state. He has received several awards for his contribution towards the state. Many implementations of technology, have been happening under the guidance of Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh in the state of Maharashtra. It has driven the people of Maharashtra to a positive outlook on technology.

One such initiative under the guidance of Prabhakar Deshmukh, is the CROPSAP for Pest Management on major crops in Maharashtra. This project was undertaken in the backdrop of severe outbreak on soybean crop during the year 2008-09 in the state. For this, scientific software was developed to analyze the data on-line. Earlier, this was not the case and only visual observations were used to analyze whatever is required.

The connectivity to software was provided to all the stakeholders. The field staff was all trained according to the technical implementations. Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh was the Commissioner of Agriculture then, and all of this could be achieved with his continuous support.

Click here to check out some more information about CROPSAP.

IT benefits to farmers

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh has encouraged group farming and through this, many drawbacks can be addressed and taken into consideration. Mr. Deshmukh also said, with group farming, it was possible to do farming in a scientific manner, using technology and generating better results and yields. Systematic grading and packaging will give quality assurance and better market prices. Involving women in the decision making and putting systems in place can generate immense work opportunities in the sector.

Agriculture is a major sector which is vital for the survival of modern man. Plants are the producers in the food chain, and without them, the life cycle would just not be possible.

IT has made its way into the agricultural sector in Maharashtra, and with positive results. To name a few, here are some of its effects:

• Improved decision making
• Better planning
• Community involvement
• Agricultural breakthroughs
• Agriculture for everyone

All of these effects and more are possible through the successful merge of IT and agriculture which is why farmers are getting more and more encouraged to take part in this positive change. People only have to open their minds to the endless possibilities that technological advancement can bring to agriculture. Instead of being locked away with the traditional strategies for planting, why not get involved in new and improved methods of farming?

Prabhakar Deshmukh Civil Service Day and Development

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh is Secretary of Water Conservation and E.G.S. since September 2014.He has promoted development in the field of Agriculture ever since he's been associated with it. On behalf on the Project Sri Prabhakar Deshmukh, then Commissioner of Agriculture, Maharashtra received the award on Ninth Civil Services Day held on 21st April, 2015 organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh has always been promoting group farming in the state and also has received a lot of awards pertaining to this subject,

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh was also awarded the `Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ (2012–13) to Crop Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project (CROPSAP) for pest management in major crops in Maharashtra by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

Click here to learn more about Civil Service Day.

Krishi Karman Award under the guidance of Prabhakar Deshmukh

The Krishi Karman Award is for the excellent level of production of Pulses in Maharashtra. The productivity for the year 2010 - 2011 was the highest ever achieved by Maharashtra which was 773 kg/ha. This was achieved under the guidance of Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh. 

Various initiatives by the State for increasing the production were:

1. National food security mission program started in 2007-08.
2. Funds received till date in the pulses program :- Rs. 218.07 cr. Out of which the expenditure was 217.09 cr.

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh, the commissioner of Agriculture of Maharashtra during this time. Maharashtra has seen good improvements during the time of his tenure and thus the state being awarded with the Krishi Karman Award. 

Other initiatives adopted are:

1. CROPSAP project.
2. Area expansion under pulses through intercrops with Soyabean.

E-Governance Award for Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh, the then Pune Divisional Commissioner was felicitated with a award in Bhubaneshwar in recognition of his exemplary work done. This 15th National Conference, which was organized by the Government of India's Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances was held on 9th and 10th of February, 2012. 

Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh also had to say a few words during the felicitation. He said “It was a detailed chalked out project post the sudden outbreak of the Spodeptera and other leaf eating caterpillars on Soybean crop in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of the state. In short span the pest incidence spread rapidly affecting 14.64 lakh hectares of crop cultivated in the area of the total 30.63 lakh hectares. The project was taken up as a challenge.’’

“It is the first-of-it-kind effort to use information technology in agriculture to benefit the farmers. This experiment which was carried out in the state has already been taken up by Orissa and Gujarat governments,’’ said Deshmukh, who is also former state agriculture commissioner.The project recently passed through three stages of screening which won it the gold medal award at the national level category under the “Exemplary Reuse of Information Communication Technology (ICT) based solution” E-governance award for 2011-12. The award was announced by the Ministry of Administrative reforms and Public grievances.The project, which was carried under the title ‘Crop pest surveillance and advisory project’, bagged the award.