To fasten payment of crop insurance claims to farmers, the Centre has launched a pilot programme Kisan, which will use satellite and drone-based imaging and other geospatial technology to get timely and accurate data on crop yields. The project envisages use of space technology and geo-informatics (GIS, GPS and Smartphone) technology along with high resolution data from UAV/drone based imaging for improvement in yield estimation and better planning of crop cutting experiments (CCEs), needed for crop insurance programme.
The Pilot Study is proposed to be launched in one district each of Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during Kharif season of 2015 and two districts each of these States during Rabi season of 2015-16.
Once the Pilot Study is successful, it will be extended to the other parts of the country.
The KISAN project will be implemented by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC), an attached Office of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & FW, in collaboration with ISRO Centres (Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad & National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad), India Meteorological Department, CCAFS, State Agriculture Departments and State Remote Sensing Centres. The centre also launched an Android-based app for collection of data of hailstorm.
An Android App, designed by ISRO (National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad) has also been launched, which will help real time data collection about hailstorm occurrences along with photographs and geographical coordinates (longitude and latitude).
