AgriStack represents India's attempt to extend the Digital Public Infrastructure model to agriculture. Discuss its architecture and the federalism challenges in its implementation.

AgriStack is a farmer-centric Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) built as a public good, forming the technology backbone of the Digital Agriculture Mission approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2024 with an outlay of Rs. 2,817 crore (central share Rs. 1,940 crore) [3]. It applies the India Stack logic — a verified digital identity plus open registries — to farm-service delivery.

Architecture: a federated stack

• Three foundational registries — Farmers' Registry, Geo-Referenced Village Maps, and Crop Sown Registry — all created and maintained by State Governments/UTs, not the Centre [1].
• Farmer ID as the unique digital identity, "Kisan ki Pehchaan", linking landholding, crop, livestock and fisheries data; target of 11 crore IDs by 2026-27, with over 9.20 crore generated by March 2026 [1][4].
• Service layer: seamless integration with PM-KISAN, PMFBY, MSP-based procurement, credit delivery, input distribution and disaster relief, cutting exclusion and leakage [4].
• Allied DPI tools under the Mission: Krishi Decision Support System and a Comprehensive Soil Fertility & Profile Map [2].

Federalism challenges

• Agriculture is a State subject; the Centre can design standards but delivery depends on State registries, requiring MoUs rather than directives [1].
• Uneven State capacity and pace produces wide variation in Farmer ID coverage, risking a two-speed rollout [4].
• Land-record dependency: registries rest on State-digitised land records, so tenants, sharecroppers and unclear-title holders face exclusion.
• Data governance: ownership vests with States and access is restricted to government, with no private company building the federated database — a deliberate design to allay privacy concerns, but one demanding harmonised State-level safeguards [4].
• Coordination costs: the Ministry's National Workshop on AgriStack stressed Centre–State alignment to meet saturation and integration goals [5].

AgriStack shows that DPI in a federal polity succeeds through cooperative federalism, not central command — the Centre setting interoperable standards while States own the data and delivery. Strengthening State digital capacity, updating tenancy records, and codifying farmer consent norms will let AgriStack convert data into dignity for the cultivator.