Use of Modern Technology for Crop Production Forecasting

• The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare is funding various projects for Crop Production Forecasting, which includes FASAL Scheme (Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based observations) and CHAMAN (Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo-iNformatics).
• The programmes are being operationalized by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, with technology support from ISRO.
• FASAL is used for crop production forecasting of field crops while CHAMAN is for horticulture crops.
• The Government has identified various advanced technologies which includes Space and Geo-spatial technology as one of the major technologies.

FASAL Scheme:

• Crop production forecasts using satellite remote sensing data has been conceptualized by ISRO in early eighties.
• In 1988, Government of India started a project “Crop Acreage and Production Estimation (CAPE)” to collect the statistics of Agricultural Output.
• In order to enhance the scope of this project, the FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based Observations) programme was conceptualized, by developing methodology for multiple in-season forecasts of crops at national scale.
• Under the operational component of the FASAL programme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, MNCFC regularly generates crop forecasts at District/State/National level for 9 major crops of the country, using the procedures developed by Space Applications Centre, ISRO.
• Nine crops assessed under FASAL: Rice, Wheat, Tur, Rabi Pulses, Rapeseed & Mustard, Rabi Jowar, Cotton, Jute and Sugarcane.
• Both optical and microwave Remote sensing data is used for crop acreage estimation, crop condition assessment and production forecasting.

CHAMAN:

• The CHAMAN project was initiate in 2014 for better horticulture assessment and development through remote sensing, GIS and field survey.
• The Remote Sensing component of the project was implemented by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) in collaboration with ISRO, NHRDF, IMD, ICAR, State Horticulture Departments and State Remote Sensing Centres.
• The seven crops assessed under the CHAMAN project: Potato, Onion, Tomato, Chilli, Mango, Banana and Citrus.

Objectives of CHAMAN:

• Area assessment and production forecasting of 7 major horticultural crops in selected districts of major states (12 states, 185 Districts).
• Geospatial Applications for Horticultural Development and Management Planning :

• Post Harvest Infrastructure
• Aqua-horticulture
• Orchard Rejuvenation
• Crop Intensification
• GIS Database Creation
• Site Suitability Assessment

• Detailed scientific field level studies for crop identification, yield modelling, disease assessment and precision farming.

Other important steps taken by the government for crop forecasting:

• The Government is using satellite-based estimates for planning and decision-making purposes with respect to storage, pricing and import/export.
• The satellite-based indices are used for drought assessment and satellite data is also being used for various applications under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Crop Intensification in Rice fallow areas and horticulture expansion in the North-eastern States.
• Areas identified for space technology applications are crop estimation, drought assessment, horticulture development, crop insurance, pest & disease impact assessment, crop loss assessment, soil resource mapping, crop intensification, precision farming, sustainable agriculture and climate change impact on agriculture.
• The KISAN project launched by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare carried out various pilot studies for evaluating the role of satellite technology in crop yield estimation.
• Currently, the satellite remote sensing is being used for various operational applications under PMFBY, such as Smart Sampling for Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), Yield Dispute Resolution and Direct Yield Estimation.
• The Government of India proposes to migrate to technology based yield estimation from the conventional CCE based yield estimation.
• Government of India have also rolled out smart sampling for Rice, Wheat, Rabi Jowar, and Rapeseed and Mustard crops during last 4 seasons.
• Protocols have also been prepared for Two-Step Yield Estimation where technology will be used initially for loss categorization.
• More CCEs will be conducted in ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’ areas and fewer CCEs will be conducted in ‘mild’ or ‘normal’ areas.