Vijayawada: The state government extended the deadline for E-Crop Digital Land and Crop registration for the current kharif season till October 31, in a bid to achieve 100 per cent land parcel coverage across the state. In this connection, agriculture department director Dr S Dilli Rao issued necessary orders for all district collectors and district agriculture officers on Saturday.
According to agriculture department director Dr Dilli Rao, the new schedule fixes October 25 as the last date for crop registration, October 30 for social audit, corrections, and modifications, and October 31 for publication of the final list.
He admitted that the digital crop survey has not progressed as expected during the current Kharif season. Out of 2.9 crore land parcels in the state, only 97 lakh land parcels (33 per cent) have been registered so far, he said.
Furthermore, he said that at Rythu Seva Kendras (RSKs), village agriculture assistants are recording farmer-wise details of crops, including agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, social forestry, and even fallow lands. As per the Government of India directives, 100 per cent of land parcels must be registered under the E-Crop Digital Survey beginning from kharif 2025, he said.
Later, Dr Rao explained that several factors slowed down registrations this year. Rationalisation and transfers of village secretariat staff left many inexperienced in survey number identification, he said. RSK staff were overburdened with other departmental surveys and secretariat duties, he felt.
In addition, he said large number of employees were engaged in Totapuri mango procurement in Tirupati, Chittoor, and Annamayya districts. Fertiliser distribution, particularly urea, during August and September further consumed manpower, while continuous heavy rainfall worsened field conditions.
Meanwhile, Dr Dilli Rao said that e-crop digital land and crop registration performance has been uneven across districts. Krishna, East Godavari and Kakinada have achieved more than 50 per cent registration, while YSR Kadapa, Chittoor, Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitaramaraju districts remain below 22 per cent, he said.
The agriculture director issued strict instructions to improve progress. “RSK staff should not be diverted to other secretariat duties, and village revenue officers (VROs) must actively participate in joint verification,” he said. Also, he said district collectors have been directed to review progress daily, deploy additional staff wherever necessary, and ensure inter-departmental coordination, he explained.
Dr Rao stressed that the E-Crop Digital Survey would serve as the “single source of truth” for all farmer welfare and development schemes, including crop insurance and input subsidies. He appealed to collectors and officials to make full use of the extended deadline and ensure that every cultivated and uncultivated parcel is recorded by the end of October.
