Who Owns Your Farm Data? Gujarat Sets New Rules to Keep It Safe

As agriculture in Gujarat becomes increasingly technology-driven, the state government has put in place a dedicated mechanism to govern how farmers' personal information is collected, stored and shared. The Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department has constituted a Departmental Data Committee (DDC) to oversee data management under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and the National AgriStack Mission.

The move is aimed at creating a secure digital ecosystem for agricultural services while ensuring that farmers' information remains protected from misuse, unauthorised access and cyber threats.

What changes for farmers?

The committee will supervise how data maintained by the Agriculture Department, agricultural universities, boards and corporations is handled. Officials said personal, financial and farm-related information will only be processed after obtaining informed consent from farmers and in accordance with legal provisions.

As more government services shift online, the committee will also monitor whether departments follow prescribed safeguards before sharing or accessing any farmer-related data.

Five categories for agricultural data

To standardise data governance, the department has classified all agricultural datasets into five categories:

• Open
• Shareable
• Restricted
• Sensitive
• Negative List

General information such as weather advisories, farming practices and market prices will continue to remain publicly available. However, sensitive records—including farmers' identity details, banking information and confidential documents—will be protected through stricter access controls.

Oversight and accountability

The committee will be chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary or Secretary of the Agriculture Department. It includes the Departmental Data Officer, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Deputy Director (IT), ICT Officer, Legal Officer, IT experts, and representatives from agricultural boards, corporations and universities.

Apart from approving data-sharing protocols, the committee will maintain auditable records of farmers' consent and report any violations of consent-related provisions to the State Data Authority.

Focus on cybersecurity

The DDC has also been assigned responsibility for monitoring cyber incidents involving agricultural databases. Any data breach or security lapse will be reported to the State Chief Data Officer and other competent authorities for immediate action.

Officials believe that a stronger data governance framework will not only protect farmers' information but also improve the delivery of crop insurance, subsidies, disaster relief and other welfare schemes by ensuring authenticated data is available for policy implementation and research.