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Farmers using satellites for crop mapping in India

by | 03-04-2015 23:32



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis  promotion of a "per drop, more crop"approach to farming  aims to make better use of scarce resources and have a satellite cropping system in function by July, the monsoon season.

This technology will use remote analysis so that soil moisture is assessed and yields are raised through crop development, something that has the potential to cut input costs.

As part of this scheme, farmers can access advisories on their mobile phones. This will help them to select the right seed varieties, apply the right fertilizers or time irrigations shots.

Furthermore, the Modi government has initiated a National Soil Health Card scheme that has been modelled on his initiatives to farmers in Gujarat(a state in India ), where he served as Chief Minister to enable farmers to plant crops that are more suited to their farmland.

The satellite analysis is able to test vegetation cover at the field level which will help to determine the development of a crop, its water needs and the determination of whether it has been harmed by pests.

This approach wants to apply precision farming methods that are used in North America so that farmers are able to micromanage the exact quantity of seed, fertilizer and pesticides that they need to administer to their farmlands.

Developed countries like Canada and the United States of America also use drones to overfly farms so that soil and crops are mapped accurately.

The second best option is satellite analysis, it employs a method called Normalized Vegetation Difference Index to assess the development of a crop.

This analysis can be utilized by farmers on a real-time basis and can also be utilized for impact assessment post natural disasters.

This is a more affordable option for India, which can use its own geostationary satellites.

There are obstacles such as natural obstacles, the risk of clouds obscuring images and a need to check findings on the ground.

However, if these obstacles are efficiently tackled, then it will be very beneficial for India since half of workers among the 1.25 billion population make their living from agriculture.