State government to use geospatial tech to estimate crop acreage and yield

Kolkata: The department of Science and Technology and Biotechnology (DSTBT) has launched a project for estimation of crop acreage and yield including assessment of crop health using geospatial technologies.

Ten major crops grown in Bengal in the Kharif (paddy), Rabi (wheat, jute, maize, potato, mustard, sugarcane) and Zaid (sesame, groundnut) seasons will be covered under this project. The spatial datasets prepared will be shared

with the Agriculture Department to support the developmental planning and augmentation of services.

The new project on ‘Digital Agriculture’ is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and state Agriculture department under NeGP-A (National e-Governance Plan Agriculture).

DSTBT recently hosted a two-day capacity building programme on ‘Applications of Geoinformatics in Agriculture’ where Ujjal Biswas, Minister in Charge of DSTBT pointed out that the interpretative analysis of the spatial and attribute data prepared under this project will help in informed decision-making on food security issues.

“Since agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy, the timely availability of accurate and reliable information will be crucial for the effective planning of storage, distribution and marketing of crops and estimation of deficits, if any,” Biswas said. All components of the project will be implemented over five years to model, ground and vet the analytical study and provide necessary inputs for improved monitoring and management of the targeted crops in the Kharif, Rabi and Boro/ Zaid cropping season.

DSTBT is in the process of procuring high-resolution satellite data (<1 mtr. resolution) for finer accuracy of the images to be generated under different projects. The total fund requirement for the project is Rs 12.14 crore.

The Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, New Delhi, National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad and Regional Remote Sensing Centre East, Kolkata will provide necessary technical guidance for the project.