HYDERABAD: If everything goes well, Telangana government may soon adopt latest satellite-based technology to assess rice production and crop damage accurately. The technology developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is being implemented by some states like Tamil Nadu and Odisha now.
The main advantage of this new technology is that reports on crop condition can be prepared with ease every 12 days and during natural calamities such as cyclones and floods, the government can get accurate information on the extent of crop damage. The other advantage of the ease of data availability is that crop insurance amounts can be released without any delay by getting yield information. Principal scientist and director of Economic Division and Programme Leader of IRRI Samarendu Mohanty and Economist of IRRI-India programme's Delhi representative Aldas Janaiah, met Telangana Agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Monday. Mohanty explained the advantages of the satellite-based technology to the minister.
"IRRI has developed a software where satellite maps can be quickly analysed. Under the existing National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), rice production report assessment is not accurate and the maps can give only information about areas. Countries such as Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam have been using the IRRI technology for crop assessment," Mohanty told TOI.
He said by knowing the crop condition, yield assessment and weather conditions every 12 days, it is easy for releasing crop insurance to farmers. The state government or insurance companies can make part payment of insurance to farmers without waiting till the end of season. The agriculture minister directed the secretary of agriculture Parthasarathi to send a team of officials to Tamil Nadu to study IRRI's satellite-based technology that is being used there. Agriculture university vice-chancellor Praveen Rao was also present at the meeting.