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Under a multicentre study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, 2205 samples of dairy milk were collected from rural and urban areas of 12 states representing different geographical regions of India. These samples were analysed for residues of DDT and different isomers of HCH by gas-liquid chromatography. Analytical quality assurance between various participating laboratories was ensured through analysis of check samples. The residues of DDT and HCH were detected in more than 80% of samples analysed. Concentrations of DDT residues, alpha-HCH, beta-HCH, gamma-HCH and delta-HCH exceeded their maximum residue limits prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Indian Government in 37, 21, 42, 28 and 4% of the samples, respectively. Median values of DDT and HCH found in dairy milk in India were more than the corresponding values reported from most other countries. The results showed significant variations in the incidence as well as level of these contaminants in dairy milk from different regions of the country.

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Agriculture is central to the Indian economy and suffers from widespread operational inefficiencies that could be corrected by the use of digital agriculture technologies (DA). We review and synthesise available literature concerning digital agriculture in India and anticipate its transformative potential in the coming decade. Although the initial growth of DA was more conspicuous in the downstream sectors and high-value crops, reaching smallholder farmers upstream is slowly emerging despite significant obstacles such as small fragmented holdings, inadequate data infrastructure and public policy, and unequal access to digital infrastructure. Agri-tech enables innovation at many locations within value chains, and a steady shift is occurring in change from individual farms to the whole value chain. Technology in the sector is progressing from information and communication technology-based solutions to Internet of Things and artificial intelligence–machine learning-enabled services. India’s public policy shows signs of a longstanding investment and collaboration in the sector, with an explicit focus on data infrastructure development. We find smallholder predominance, diversity in production systems, the predominance of commodity crops, proximity to urban markets, and public policy as the major factors of DA’s success in India. A stocktake of the available technologies and their applications by the public sector, tech giants, information technology leaders and agri-food tech startups in India strongly indicates a digital transformation of Indian agriculture. However, given the federal structure of governance and agriculture being a state (province) subject, we need to wait to see how DA policies are rolled out and taken up across the country.

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