The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has begun the process of formulating a National Agriculture Code (NAC), on the lines of the existing National Building Code and National Electrical Code. What is the NAC, and why is it needed? What is the National Agriculture Code? The BIS is the national body which sets standards for different products across various economic sectors. In agriculture, it has already set standards for machinery (tractors, harvesters, etc.) and various inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, etc.) However, there are still many areas not covered by the BIS standards. For example, there is no standard for agriculture practices like preparation of fields, micro irrigation and water use. Thus, for a long time, policymakers have felt a need for a comprehensive standards framework, like the one now being formulated by the BIS. The NAC will cover the entire agriculture cycle, and will also contain a guidance note for future standardisation. The code will have two parts. The first will contain general principles for all crops, and the second will deal with crop-specific standards for the likes of paddy, wheat, oilseeds, and pulses. The NAC will serve as a guide for farmers, agriculture universities, and officials involved in the field. What will the NAC cover? In addition to standards for agriculture machinery, the NAC will cover all agriculture processes and post-harvest operations, such as crop selection, land preparation, sowing/transplanting, irrigation/drainage, soil health management, plant health management, harvesting/threshing, primary processing, post-harvest, sustainability, and record maintenance. It will also include standards for input management, like use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and weedicides, as well as standards for crop storage and traceability. Crucially, the NAC will cover all new and emerging areas like natural farming and organic farming, as well as the use of Internet-of-Things in the field of agriculture. What are the stated objects of the National Agriculture Code? According to the BIS, the objectives are: To create an implementable national code covering recommendations for agriculture practices taking agroclimatic zones, crop type, socio economic diversity of the country and all aspects of agrifood value chain into consideration; To act as an enabler of quality culture in Indian agriculture by providing the required reference to policy makers, agriculture departments and regulators for incorporating the provisions of NAC in their schemes, policies, or regulations; To create a comprehensive guide for the farming community to ensure effective decision making in agricultural practices; To integrate relevant Indian Standards with recommended agricultural practices. To address the horizontal aspects of agriculture such as SMART farming, sustainability, traceability and documentation; and To aid in the capacity building program organized by agriculture extension services and civil society organisations. What is the proposed timeline for this project? The BIS has already formulated a strategy to standardise practices. It has formed working panels for 12-14 specifically identified areas, which will include university professors and R&D organisations. These panels will draft the code, with a tentative deadline for the NAC set as October 2025. After this, the BIS plans to provide training to farmers on the NAC and its standards. “We have requested universities to organise training programs for farmers. The BIS will provide whatever financial assistance is needed for that,” Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director General, BIS, told The Indian Express. What are Standardized Agriculture Demonstration Farms? How are they important? Apart from drafting the NAC, the BIS has also taken an initiative for setting up of ‘Standardized Agriculture Demonstration Farm’ (SADF) in selected agriculture institutes in the country. These farms will serve as experimental sites for testing and implementing various agricultural practices and new technologies in accordance with Indian Standards, according to the BIS. For the development of these specialised farms, the BIS plans to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with premier agricultural institutes. “We have identified 10 prominent agricultural institutes, and will sign MoUs with them for the development of SADFs… These MoUs have been shared, and are currently being finalised. Two MoUs have already been signed,” Tiwari said. One of these two institutes is the Pantnagar-based Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT). According to the officials, the BIS will provide financial assistance to these institutes for setting up the SADFs, where anyone including officials responsible for extension activities, farmers or industry people can come and learn. Tiwari said that China has already successfully demonstrated the working of such SADFs.
