Technology in Agriculture: Remote Sensing Crop Model

Remote Sensing Crop Model: Relevance

• GS 3: e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Remote Sensing Crop Model: Context

• Recently, Agribazaar, India’s largest agri-trading marketplace, has launched a ‘remote sensing crop model’ to help farmers in order to implement precision farming naturally.

Agribazaar agristack: Key points

• At present, the services are being offered to over three lakh farmers registered with Agribazaar.
• Moreover, more than 10 lakh additional farmers are expected to benefit from this service in the next 12 months.
• Though available globally, Agribazaar was offering remote sensing crop model for the first time in India.

Remote sensing benefits

• This model will help millions of Indian small farmers and farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to do farming in a lesser risk-prone manner, and incurring fewer expenses with higher yield.
• It will also help in replenishing earth by avoiding excessive use of agri-nutrients, water and tilling.
• This model considers soil properties, weather parameters and geographic location, based on which it benefits farmers with a data-based decision-making system.

What is a remote sensing crop model?

• Remote sensing is a process where scientific data and observations are collected about an object whose physical presence is not needed.
• Remote sensing in agriculture means the process of collecting information about soil and the land.
• Through these data and observations, scientists and agricultural experts are able to measure various features like nutrient deficiencies, water deficiency or surplus, weed infestations, insect damage, hail damage, wind damage, herbicide damage, plant populations and presence of diseases.
• The collection of this agricultural data allows for the easy implementation of precision farming.

What is precision farming?

• Precision farming is an approach where inputs are utilised in precise amounts to get more average yields than the traditional cultivation techniques.
• It can help with the inputs needed like fertilisers. Moreover, it can also guide on the aspects like the amount of water given to crops, choice of crops, cropping practices, and more.
• It addresses various farming questions: What, when and how to sow besides giving the crop calendar and telling farmers when to harvest.

What is agristack?

• The Government of India has chosen Agribazaar as one of the partners alongside Microsoft India for its India agri-stack programme, to share the remote sensing crop model
• Agristack seeks to build a digital data stack of information, like land records.
• These datasets will be analysed to recommend the farmers on issues like seeds to buy, farming best practices, updates on weather, information about agricultural credit, insurance, and more to improve average farming yields.
• Agristack is officially known as India Digital Ecosystem Architecture (IDEA), and is mandated to combine all the various datasets on agriculture to have a comprehensive integrated platform

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