Lok Sabha Question No. 342 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: National Crop Forecast Centre for Yield Estimation
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jayadev Galla

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 342

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2021

## National Crop Forecast Centre for Yield Estimation

342. SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the pilot projects undertaken under the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre to develop yield estimation at Gram Panchayat level and the status of projects thereof;
- (b) whether the Government aims to undertake any scheme to assess accurate crop yield/loss at insurance unit for quick claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any data has been collected after the approval of the DGCA for flying of drone to collect the data in the 100 pilot districts for paddy and wheat crops; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ िष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  : The  Government  of  India  plans  to  migrate  towards  technology  based  yield estimation from the conventional Crop Cutting Experiment (CCE) based yield estimation approach.  Towards  this,  few  pilot  studies  have  been  initiated  by  taking  various Government  and  Private  Agencies  On-board.  During  Kharif  2019,  pilot  studies  were conducted  through  12  agencies  in  64  districts  of  15  States  for  9  crops  envisaging innovative technologies such as High Resolution Satellite data (Optical and microwave), Unmanned  Aerial  Vehicle  (UAV),  Advanced  multi-parameter  crop  models,  Mobile Applications for Field Data Collection, Artificial intelligence/ Machine learning approach, Sensor  Networks,  Internet  of Things,  Field  based  digital  photographs,  Hand  held instruments  and  Scientifically  designed  Sampling  Plans.  These  approaches  were validated in Rabi 2019-20 in 15 blocks of 6 States.

The pilot studies were scaled up to 100 districts with the help of  07 agencies for Paddy crop  in  Kharif  -  2020,  and  for  Paddy  and  Wheat  in  Rabi  season  of  2020-21  in  100 districts of 13 states. The agencies have submitted the technical reports to Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC).

Further,  the  Expression  of  Interest  for  Yield  estimation  of  Non-Cereals  (other  than paddy and wheat) has been initiated. Total 20 agencies/organisations (10 Government and 10 Private) have been identified. Tentative time period for this study is Rabi 202122 and Kharif 2022.

(b) &  (c) : Towards  assessing  accurate  crop  yield/loss  at  insurance  unit,  the Government has taken an initiative to develop a protocol for Crop Yield estimation at Gram Panchayat level by using Innovative Technologies. For this, various Technology agencies (Government & private both national and international) have been deployed, which  have  showcased  the  various  yield  estimation  approaches  such  as  Multi-linear regression,  machine  learning,  advanced  simulation  modelling,  light-use  efficiency models,  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  Evapo-transpiration  (FAO-ET)  Model, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), and Machine Learning that involve advanced analytic tools, like Google Earth Engine, Python, Internet of Things (IoT). In this regard, the agencies have submitted the final work report, the applicability and feasibility of which, will be worked out by the Technical Experts Committee.

(d) & (e): During Kharif 2020, approval of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been sought for flying the UAVs in 100 pilot study districts including drone based imaging in 37 districts for paddy crop.

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