A unique real-time crop-monitoring model developed by the Department of Science and Technology has caught the attention of the Agriculture Ministry, which has asked the department to use this model and prepare crop maps for this kharif season. At a meeting held last week, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was given a presentation of the model and how it was being used to make an assessment of crop health in Haryana. The accuracy of the data, as exemplified in Haryana, impressed the Agriculture Ministry officials, which then asked DST to provide it with detailed and accurate figures on the areas under a particular crop, official sources said. This data will help the Ministry in improving the estimation of the yield of different crops, so vital for agrarian planning. As of now, crop estimation is done on the basis of field reports from local officials which is unscientific and not very accurate. The Agriculture Ministry has requested crop maps for about 15 kharif crops including paddy, groundnut, soyabean, cotton and maize in the states where these crops are sown in abundance. The model is based on data collected from six to seven satellites which is then processed and analysed in a special software. In the case of Haryana, this model has been programmed to come out with an index of crop health in a grid of as small a size as a 25x25 sqm field. Any indication of bad health can then be followed up by field visits by local officials who make an on-the-spot analysis of the causes and take remedial measures.
