Our dependence on manual intervention for assessing crop loss data may be outdated already. The need of the hour points towards faster, cheaper, and comparatively much more reliable high-tech options. The government must focus on remote sensing technology to calculate crop acreage, crop yield, and even crop damage.
Currently, the Agriculture Ministry depends on an organisational structure to receive inputs on crop yield and damage assessment. But in most cases, the initial data received from this ground level mechanism is of approximate value. Overall accuracy is marred by resource constraints of concerned officials. Errors in data collection are common, and the margin magnifies, when aggregation of data takes place at higher levels.
Hence, the government prepares nearly four estimates thereby delaying the final figures by almost a year. Generally, there is a big difference in initial estimates and the final figures. This disturbs the demand-supply chain and results in loss to farmers as well as consumers. Another underlying anomaly associated with manual intervention is the delay in compensation calculations. Farmers in India have to wait for the government to finish compensation calculation. Moreover, the result may be erroneous in nature.
But all this can change if the government embraces remote sensing technology. Satellite driven technology has been around for years now. The progress made during this period will make crop yield and crop damage assessment cheap, easy, and accurate. Tapping this technology would allow authorities to carry out calculations on the basis of direct images or wavelength based colour images reflected by crops. This can be done at different stages of the crop thereby leaving the business analyst with a clear image of actual crop yield and crop produced at harvest stage.
The same technology can be used to assess crop damage due to weather and severe pest attack or disease. Satellite maps when compared with revenue maps will assist in assessing the field of damage. This will speed up the process of compensation calculation and will also lead to a concrete understanding of the demand-supply scenario. In addition to all this, the technology will help farmers in taking crucial decisions like holding and selling of stocks along with planning their next crop.
The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) can tie up with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for the purpose of developing a model for crop data collection and analysis. Besides providing structural changes, modern ways of agricultural data collection will also lead to capacity building of manpower in the sector. The cost-effective mechanism will be nothing short of a boon for agriculture in India.
(Featured Image: thehindu.com)
