Mumbai, Mar 4 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has introduced an offline photo upload facility for the e-crop sowing registration process to address issues faced by farmers due to poor network connectivity and server problems, the assembly was told on Wednesday.
Replying to a question raised by MLA Anil Patil during the Question Hour of the budget session, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the new system will allow farmers to click photographs of their standing crops even without internet connectivity.
“The images will automatically upload to the system once the network becomes available,” he added.
Patil had pointed out that though the e-crop sowing registration system has been operational on a large scale since 2021 and is being strictly implemented from 2025-26, farmers in rural areas continue to face difficulties due to a lack of network, server downtime, GPS errors and unavailability of officials.
Responding to these concerns, the minister said the DCS (Digital Crop Survey) system has now been activated for e-crop registration.
Under this system, farmers can capture crop photos on their mobile phones in offline mode, reducing disruptions caused by connectivity issues, he said.
“The government aims that nearly 80 per cent of the registrations should be completed directly by farmers,” the minister said, adding that the remaining entries are done through the Revenue Department.
In cases where farmers are unable to complete the process due to technical issues, village-level revenue officials such as talathis and revenue assistants facilitate the registration.
He said farmers are required to complete the e-crop sowing registration within 55 days of sowing, after which the remaining process is carried out by the department.
Bawankule also noted that as the e-crop system is based on a platform developed by the Centre, there are certain technical limitations at the state level.
However, efforts are underway to resolve farmers’ grievances and improve implementation, he added. PTI MR NSK
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