Centre launches new system to assess crop yield, losses

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

The Centre has launched a new project, Kisan [C(K)rop Insurance using Space technology And geoiNformatics], to fasten the payment of crop insurance claims to farmers and improve estimations.

The project, through satellite and drone-based imaging and other geospatial technology, would get timely and accurate data on crop yield. The pilot study has been launched in rice and cotton fields of the ongoing kharif season in four districts, Kurukshetra (Haryana), Shimoga (Karnataka), Yavatmal (Maharashtra) and Seoni (Madhya Pradesh).

It will be carried into the 2015-16 rabi season in eight districts in same states to assess the yields of rice, wheat and shorghum, said Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan. The aim is to cover the entire country after assessing the results, he said.

The government also launched an Android-based app for collection of data of hailstorm with the support of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to assess large-scale damage to standing crops. The facility will be used by state agriculture officials to help the Centre arrive at quick assessment of damage to crops because of hailstorm. At present, there is no comprehensive approach to collect hailstorm data.

The app will collect real time data about hailstorm occurrences along with photographs and geographical coordinates (longitude and latitude). This will support in deciding the crop loss more objectively and in a very fast manner.

The app can be used through smartphones for collection of hailstorm data along with photographs and locations and can be uploaded on real-time to ISRO’s Bhuvan server.

The programme envisages use of high resolution remote sensing data both from satellite and drone-based imaging, sophisticated modelling activity and other geospatial technology for improving the accuracy of crop yield estimation through more efficient crop cutting experiments.