Resources
We are consistently building these resources, including a pool of
master trainers to facilitate content and are open to your
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Frequently Asked Questions
VISTAAR is an open network for agriculture that aims to
enhance the agricultural ecosystem by connecting various
stakeholders by leveraging technology and AI for improved
outcomes by enabling access to agriculture information and
advisory services across multiple state government and
private sector advisory, agri information organizations.
VISTAAR is not a platform, solution, app or scheme; it's an
open network that enables the discovery of agriculture
content, information, and advisory services enabled by
verified and authorized seeker and provider platforms.
VISTAAR is an open network that leverages a set of standard
protocols “Beckn Protocols” using which the different
provider and seeker platforms can connect through a set of
defined APIs to discover and fulfill agriculture content and
advisory services to empower farmers and field level workers
by providing timely information on crops, pesticides, best
practices etc to enhance their respective productivity for a
sustainable livelihood.
Beckn protocol is a set of specifications consisting of
APIs, data models, reference architecture, transaction
mechanisms, and global standards that when adopted by
digital platforms, enable the creation of decentralized
networks. Such networks allow consumers and providers to
discover, identify each other and perform transactions with
each other without the need for a central intermediary. It
can be thought of as a common set of rules of communication
mutually agreed upon by several platforms to allow their
users to perform discovery, ordering, fulfillment and
post-fulfillment activities between each other in a standard
way. It is a sector-agnostic protocol, meaning, any
industry-specific taxonomy or knowledge model can be
represented using the data model of Beckn protocol.
It's an open network, we welcome all stakeholders involved
in agriculture information (crop, best practices, schemes
etc), advisory, research, forecasting and observation
services including individuals and organizations committed
to advancing agriculture-related learning, capacity,
building etc that can empower farmers for an improved
sustainable livelihood via farming in India.
Provider Platform - If you create or facilitate
agriculture-related verified content, best practices,
video scheme information, farming techniques, etc, and
aspire to broaden the reach to farmers, governments, and
field-level field workers via a web page, mobile or web
application or would want to build one in future, we
invite you to join VISTAAR as a Provider Platform
Provider - If you are a public or private organization, research institute or academia or a service provider that enables content, agri -advisory services you will be called a provider. Any provider can have either their own app, web portal etc that can act as the provider platform and can onboard by integrating with VISTAAR or if you are a provider but do not have a platform/web page of your own you can still participate in VISTAAR by onboarding any of the provider platforms already integrated with VISTAAR.
Seeker Platform - If you are an application or a platform provider that acts as an interface for farmers, students, and field-level workers to access information, and advisory resources for agriculture from various sources or aspire to become a platform that can enable access to agriculture resources, content, advisory services available on the network, you can join VISTAAR as a seeker platform.
Seeker - If you are a farmer or a field-level worker and would like to consume information resources, data insights, or advisory services on VISTAAR through any of the seeker platforms, you can join as a “seeker”.
Provider - If you are a public or private organization, research institute or academia or a service provider that enables content, agri -advisory services you will be called a provider. Any provider can have either their own app, web portal etc that can act as the provider platform and can onboard by integrating with VISTAAR or if you are a provider but do not have a platform/web page of your own you can still participate in VISTAAR by onboarding any of the provider platforms already integrated with VISTAAR.
Seeker Platform - If you are an application or a platform provider that acts as an interface for farmers, students, and field-level workers to access information, and advisory resources for agriculture from various sources or aspire to become a platform that can enable access to agriculture resources, content, advisory services available on the network, you can join VISTAAR as a seeker platform.
Seeker - If you are a farmer or a field-level worker and would like to consume information resources, data insights, or advisory services on VISTAAR through any of the seeker platforms, you can join as a “seeker”.
Accessible through websites and chat-bots and interactive
voice response systems integrated on VISTAAR network
If you are a content-providing organization, contact us
via the
"Get Involved Contact Us” form.
We will reach out to you. We are looking for quality
advisory content in simple language and local dialects.
If you are a content sharing platform that provides
farmer-friendly content, videos, or fact sheets, please
reach out to us by filling the“Contact Us”
form, we will reach out to you with next steps to help
your platform onboard the VISTAAR network as a provider
platform.
If you have relevant data layers or services, reach out to
us by filling the “Contact Us” form. We will reach out to
you to seek more information about your services or
platform and guide you with steps on contributing or
integrating to the VISTAAR network.
Please fill in the contact us form/write to us on the
contact us email to reach out to VISTAAR’s support or
onboarding team through their official website or contact
channels. Submit an application detailing your platform,
its services, and how it aims to assist farmers and
field-level workers. VISTAAR will review your application,
verify your platform's credentials, and approve your
participation. Once approved, VISTAAR will provide
integration guidelines and necessary training to help you
connect with the network.
If you know stakeholders/platforms crucial for VISTAAR
success, and can help farmers help us map them and host a
dialogue or mini-Win Room by submitting the query or
request via “Get Involved’ form. We will contact you to
facilitate win rooms that will connect them with a robust
integration workshop with live tech support.
If you're a researcher or connected to researchers, please
contact us by submitting information about yourself via
“get Involved” We particularly need experts in agronomy,
pest management, markets, animal husbandry, gender, and
climate responsive content.
If you have an existing app, bot, or tech component,
please reach out to us via the “get involved” form, we
will reach out to you with the onboarding and integration
process
VISTAAR onboards provider platforms and organizations via
a onboarding robust framework driven by the Ministry and
the respective State Governments, only approved providers
and provider platforms are registered on VISTAAR post a
certification process to ensure the content, and
information accessed is from authorized sources and are
reliable.
Farmers, Field-level workers, and Governments will benefit
from VISTAAR by gaining insights on weather, best
practices, farming trends, farmer-eligible schemes, and
observation services.
Of course, we have several Network Service Providers who
can help you join the network. Please submit your query or
reach out to us by filling “Involved Us” form.
DG is offering facilitators, and we welcome other partner
organizations to volunteer facilitators dedicating 10-20%
of their time to VISTAAR. Skills in various categories are
valuable for steering engagement and workstreams.
VISTAAR enables a sandbox and onboarding mechanism that
for new participants , any new platform willing to
integrate on VISTAAR should comply to the pre-requisite
onabording compliances and can initiate integration via
the sandbox certification process. Center and state
government can plan to identify, design, and onboard
additional member users and platforms across each role
type over the following xx months post the xxxx launch,
ensuring a diverse and active network. This will be in
compliance with the network protocols that are followed
for participation in VISTAAR.
Yes, VISTAAR encourages organizations to offer training
and capacity-building services to public sector and
frontline workers. This can enhance their skills and
knowledge, enabling them to better support farmers.
If you know stakeholders crucial for VISTAAR, help map
them and host discussions. This can include mini-Win
Rooms, sensitization sessions, and connecting them with
tech experts.
Yes, organizations with relevant expertise can volunteer
facilitators dedicating 10-20% of their time to VISTAAR.
DG is already volunteering facilitators, and other
partners are encouraged to contribute.
VISTAAR is not a digital solution but is an open network
similar to ONDC, that facilitates all te different
content/information seeker and provider solutions/platform
to plug in and discover agricultural adviosry content by
farmers and extension workers. It aims at creating an open
agriculture advisory ecosystem wherein the farmer can
benefit from best practices, information made available by
various platforms across reserach institutes, programs,
state & central government
VISTAAR intends to digitally strengthen and enable ongoing
digital interventions at state and central level and will
complement ongoing efforts of content, databases, and last
mile delivery. It leverages a set of standardised
protocols called as "Beckn protocol" which acts as a
common language across multiple digital interventions and
helps them integrate with VISTAAR network to leverage
ongoing solutions by enhancing capability, visibility and
scalability
To join the VISTAAR network, please signup and provide
your information using the linke here
The VISTAAR network policy defines principles, policies
the participating network participants (seeker and buyer
platforms) should adhere to that ensures transparency,
accountability, reliability of information facilitating a
fair information exchange that benefits the farmers and
extension worker. Please find the detailed network policy
link here - (link of the approved network policy to be
added)
VISTAAR is an open information network that leverages set
of standardised protocols called "Beckn protocol" to
enable transactions between the seeker and provider
platforms integrated on VISTAAR and helps them discover
each other and make advisory content available for farmers
and extension workers. VISTAAR doesnt store any data or
information that has been exchanged between the seeker and
provider platforms and doesnt collect any personal
information data sets. The network is agnostic of privacy
and security concerns, the VISTAAR network policy and
network participant agreements define the minimum privacy
& security measures every network participant (seeker and
provider platform) should comply with in order to get
access to the production enviornment. The participating
platforms are required to use existing technologies like
SSL and HTTPS to securely communicate with each other and
also adhere to the local and state government's data
privacy policy. The respective State Governments will be
expected to include privacy policy compliance checks as
part of their certification criteria during onboarding of
seeker and provider platform.
It is an open network. We welcome all stakeholders
involved in the agricultural information, education and
skilling sector, including individuals and organizations
committed to advancing learning and livelihood
opportunities in agriculture, to join this dynamic
network.
Farmers, Field-level workers,SHGs, FPOs and Governments
will benefit from VISTAAR by gaining insights on weather,
best practices, farming trends, farmer-eligible schemes,
and observation services from, Experts, Government
Departments and Policy Makers, Agricultural Research
Institutes and agri-tech startups. Vistaar can enable me
to access information/advisory services and/or enable me
to onboard content providers or enable others to do so.
VISTAAR - Virtually integrated Systems To Access
Agricultural Resources being developed as a DPI for
Agriculture Extension.
At its core, VISTAAR embodies the ethos of inclusivity,
ensuring that every farmer, regardless of location or
circumstance, has access to relevant, customised,
contextual information and extension services. Through the
seamless integration of cutting-edge technologies, we aim
to revolutionise the way agriculture is practised in
India, fostering a culture of innovation and resilience.
Information needs in agriculture are multifaceted,
necessitating up-to-date, relevant, and accurate data that
can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Furthermore, it will
enable farmers and extension workers to get access to
skill-building opportunities in light of evolving
agricultural practices.They further will get easy access
to communication tools and climate-resilient and
gender-sensitive training aligning with sustainable
agricultural practices to support their work with farmers.
VISTAAR is not exactly a government entity itself but is
an initiative driven by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmer Welfare (MoA&FW) in India. It represents a
significant government effort to transform the agriculture
sector by leveraging digital public infrastructure (DPIs).
While VISTAAR operates with government support and
governance, it involves multiple stakeholders, including
private sector participants, research institutions, and
technology providers, contributing to its ecosystem.
Provider Platform: If you aspire to broaden the reach of information around agriculture, weather, credit, govt. schemes you offer, we invite you to join the network as a Provider Platform.
Provider: If you’d like to be onboarded on an existing provider platform as one of the providers of information around agriculture, weather, credit, govt. schemes, we invite you to join the network as a Provider Platform.
Seeker Platform: If you seek to explore the vast array of information around agriculture, weather, credit, govt. schemes available within the network, we encourage you to join as a Seeker Platform.
Seeker: If you’d like to consume the information made available by the Vistaar network through any of the seeker platforms, you can join as a seeker.
Network Service Provider: If you choose to enable other organizations to join this network through your technology, business or onboarding services, this role will suit you the best.
Yes, it is possible to join the VISTAAR network without
having extensive technological expertise or know-how. We
have several Network Service Providers who can help you
join the network. You can submit your queries using
“Involve Us” form.
As a network participant, all policies governing the
network along with the network participant agreement will
binding on each network participant. Please find the link
of the
"Network policy" and "Network Participant Agreement"
here.
A VISTAAR community has been created on discord to address
the issues/grievances with VISTAAR . Please join the
VISTAAR discord community here
The quality and accuracy of the content is to be ensured
by the respective State or central Govt department who is
responsible for onabording their seekr and provider apps
and organisation. While onboarding its advised that the
onboarding authority ensures checks and balances to
facilitate only relevant, authentic and reliable content.
Access the registration form on VISTAAR’s official
website. Provide necessary details about your organization
and the type of content you offer. Upload any required
documentation for verification. VISTAAR will review your
submission and get back to you with approval and further
steps.
Any organization, platform, or individual that offers
relevant agricultural content, advisory services, or
educational resources can become a content provider. This
includes: Agri-Tech companies and startups, Agricultural
research institutions, agricultural experts, government
institutions etc.
You can provide a wide range of content, including but not
limited to: Agricultural best practices, Crop management
techniques, Pest and disease control methods, Weather
forecasts and alerts, Climate-resilient farming practices,
Information related to government schemes and subsidies,
etc.
Wider reach to potential users, increased awareness,
improved impact and better outcomes in agriculture and
vastly improved potential for cross-cutting collaboration
are just some of the benefits that will accrue to content
providers on VISTAAR.
If you are a content provider, you can either host your
content on one of the existing provider platforms/state
govt portals/websites on VISTAAR, or can even host on a
provider platform if you have one by integrating it with
VISTAAR via the sandbox certification Process. Once your
content is hosted on the provider side of platform, the
farmers and extension workers on the seeekr side of
platforms can search, discover and access the content from
the network as per the serach criteria utilised by the
seekers
VISTAAR doent provide provide customized content to
farmers , but VISTAAR enables structured information
sharing via Beckn protocol that are also implemneted by
the seeker platforms on the network, which can enable AI
based services to personalize recommendations based on the
user’s profile and past interactions. The open
architecture of Vistaar allows third party developers to
build applications that offer customized content and
services to farmers based on location, climate etc.
Any content modification can be done by making changes in
your provider platform content catalogue and content with
approval from the respective authority before making it
live and discoverable on the network
Agricultural best practices, Crop management techniques,
Pest and disease control methods, Weather forecasts and
alerts, Climate-resilient farming practices, Information
related to government schemes and subsidies, etc.
Vistaar prioritizes verified information from trusted
sources like agricultural research institutions and
government agencies. Vistaar can connect you with
agricultural service providers who can offer expert advice
in their specific domains. Some Vistaar-integrated apps
might offer community forum features where you can pose
questions and get insights from other farmers or
agricultural professionals.
Feedback for improvement is always welcome. Look for a
rating/feedback option within the Vistaar app or platform
you're using. Many mobile apps have a built-in feedback
mechanism.
No, Vistaar itself is free of cost as it is a network for
both content providers and information seekers. It aims to
promote information sharing and accessibility within the
agricultural sector.
The Vistaar Grid consists of several APIs, specifications
and protocols that will connect data, advisory, content
services and registries with content seekers through cross
DPI integrations and Bhashini with the help of AI tools,
web portals and apps.
Beckn protocol is a set of specifications consisting of
APIs, data models, reference architecture, transaction
mechanisms, and global standards that when adopted by
digital platforms, enable the creation of decentralized
networks. Such networks allow consumers and providers to
discover, identify each other and perform transactions
with each other without the need for a central
intermediary. It can be thought of as a common set of
rules of communication mutually agreed upon by several
platforms to allow their users to perform discovery,
ordering, fulfillment and post-fulfillment activities
between each other in a standard way. It is a
sector-agnostic protocol, meaning, any industry-specific
taxonomy or knowledge model can be represented using the
data model of Beckn protocol.
Open Networks like ONDC, ONEST, Unified Health Interface
and Kenya ONE NETWORK make use of the Beckn protocol.
Beckn protocol is a set of specifications consisting of
APIs, data models, reference architecture, transaction
mechanisms, and global standards that when adopted by
VISTAAR will enable the creation of a decentralised
network. Such networks allow consumers and providers to
discover, identify each other and perform transactions
with each other without the need for a central
intermediary. It can be thought of as a common set of
rules of communication mutually agreed upon by several
platforms to allow their users to perform discovery,
ordering, fulfilment and post-fulfilment activities
between each other in a standard way. It is a
sector-agnostic protocol, meaning, any industry-specific
taxonomy or knowledge model can be represented using the
data model of Beckn protocol.
It does not do data collection. VISTAAR is built using
Beckn Protocol which is only a set of documented
transaction API specifications, it does not (and cannot)
collect any data from any open network. Moreover, FIDE,
the not-for-profit foundation behind Beckn, does not build
any software or platform that connects to any of the open
networks; and has no access to any customer or transaction
data.
VISTAAR is simply built on a set of standard API
specifications that enables platforms to perform economic
transactions. The protocol itself does not have a storage
or a database to hold the data being transmitted between
the 2 platforms. Beckn Protocol allows policies (both
human and machine readable) like GDPR, to be transmitted
or broadcast to platforms thus allowing them to be aware
of existing policies in a region. To further enable
compliance of implementing platforms to local privacy
laws, Beckn also allows consent to be transmitted on the
protocol while any data sharing is done on independent
infrastructure.
If you know stakeholders/platforms crucial for VISTAAR
success, and can help farmers help us map them and host a
dialogue or mini-Win Room by submitting the query or
request via “Get Involved’ form. We will contact you to
facilitate win rooms that will connect them with a robust
integration workshop with live tech support.
Contact us/How to join?