Lok Sabha Question No. 4168 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Space-Based Initiatives for Agriculture
Ministry: SPACE
Asked by: Shri Jagdambika Pal, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Shri Tatkare Sunil Dattatrey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF SPACE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4168 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2026 SPACE-BASED INITIATIVES FOR AGRICULTURE

## 4168.  SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of major initiatives and programmes undertaken by the Department of Space to support and improve the agriculture  sector  in  the  country  along  with  their  objectives, timelines, financial outlays and current status of implementation;
- (b) whether space-based technologies, satellite data services and decision-support systems have been developed or deployed for crop monitoring, yield estimation, weather advisory and resource management and if so, the details thereof along with the manner in which these integrated with Central and State agencies;
- (c) the measurable and expected impact of these initiatives/interventions on crop productivity, farmers' income, agricultural  planning  and  forecasting  and  rural  development; and
- (d) whether  any  evaluation  studies  or  impact  assessments  have been conducted in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

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- (a) The ISRO/DoS has undertaken several space-based programmes to support the agriculture sector. Major initiatives include the Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agrometeorology and Land-based observations (FASAL) programme, National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS), Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using Geoinformatics (CHAMAN) programme, Space technology Utilization for Food security AgricuLtural Assessment and Monitoring (SUFALAM) project, and various collaborative programmes with State and other agencies.

Details of some of the recent projects are given in Annexure-I.

- (b) ISRO/DoS has developed and contributed in development of techniques  &  tools  for  crop  monitoring,  yield  estimation  and resources  management.  Details  of  recent  techniques  &  tools developed are as follows:
-  Crop monitoring: An AI-based crop mapping tool named 'SASYA' has been developed for C-band SAR from EOS-04 (RISAT-1A) and integrated  into  BHOONIDHI  geo-portal  of  NRSC/ISRO.  This  tool
- has been made open to operational agencies, including MNCFC, DoA&FW.
-  Agricultural  productivity  and  Yield  Estimation:  ISRO/DoS  has developed  a  Smart  sampling  technique  for  improving  the  Crop Cutting  Experiment  (CCE)  locations  to  improve  the  crop  yield estimation under Yield Estimation System based on Technology (YES-TECH) initiative of PMFBY. Further, ISRO/DoS has contributed  in  development  of  crop  yield  simulation  models including semi-physical model and machine learning based model to reduce the dependence on manual CCEs in the process of crop insurance payouts under PMFBY. These techniques are transferred to MNCFC, DoA&FW for operational implementation.
-  Yield Estimation: ISRO/DoS has developed an automated geospatial  crop  estimation  system  (GeoCrEST)  for  crop  yield estimation. The GeoCrEST system is operationally implemented on VEDAS geoportal of ISRO for the utilisation by MoA&FW.
-  Drought  Assessment  and  Monitoring:  ISRO/DoS  in  collaboration with  the  MoA&FW  and  State  agencies  has  developed  National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS).  The  drought  assessment  and  monitoring  system  is transferred to MNCFC, DoA&FW for operational implementation.
-  Satellite  Data-service:  As  per  Indian  Space  Policy-2023  the remote sensing data from Indian satellite missions is made open and free for all government users. Further, remote sensing data coarser than 5m spatial resolution is provided free and open to all users.

ISRO/DoS  is  providing  the  free  services  of  C-band  SAR  data  of EOS-04 missions to MNCFC,  DoA&FW  for operational crop mapping. Further, high-resolution satellite imagery for 13 States were  provided,  as  part  of  the  Agristack  Project,  to  strengthen digital infrastructure in agriculture.

-  Natural Resource Management: As part of the National Agricultural Land Use Mapping programme, annual (1:250K) and quinquennial (1:50K) and decadal (1:10K) land cover and land use datasets for land use planning, food security, and environmental assessments  are  being  generated  by  ISRO/DoS  to  support  the natural resource management activities in the country.
-  Value-added agro-meteorological products: ISRO/DoS operationally generates and disseminates through VEDAS geoportal (vedas.sac.gov.in), seven value-added agrometeorological  products  to  six  Agro-Meteorological  Field  Units (AMFUs)  covering  more  than  85  districts  and  500  blocks  under Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva (GKMS).
- (c) The use of space-based agricultural monitoring systems has shown positive impact in terms of:
- 
- Improved estimation of crop acreage and production
-  Identification of suitable areas for crop and horticulture expansion
-  Agriculture drought monitoring for timely reporting
-  Improved risk assessment  and claim settlement in crop insurance through objective satellite-based methodologies.
-  Space  technology  intervention  in  YES-TECH  of  PMFBY  led  to decrease  in  premium  rate  from  17%  to  12%.  Moreover,  the claims  of  more  number  of  farmers  were  settled  using  space technology blend than with only CCEs, especially under natural calamities. The YES-TECH system also brought transparency in claim settlement through evidence-based decision making.
- (d) Evaluation  and  validation  studies  are  periodically  carried  out  for various space-based agricultural applications in collaboration with the MoA&FW, State Governments, and Research Institutions. These include  accuracy  assessments  of  crop  acreage  and  validation  of satellite-based yield estimates.

A socio-economic survey in Parbhani, Maharashtra conducted by Space Applications Centre, ISRO for Kharif season of 2022-23 showed the usage of satellite products in the advisory improved the productivity soybean and cotton farms by 2-5% with reduction of input cost by 5-10%.

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Annexure-I

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4168 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## SPACE-BASED INITIATIVES FOR AGRICULTURE

| Project Information                                              | Project Information                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Status                                                   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay:                   | Crop Intensification Mapping rice fallow in six eastern states 2016-19 112 Lakhs funded by MoAFW                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Completed                                                |
| Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay:                   | CHAMAN (Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using Geoinformatics) Satellite based estimation of area of major horticultural crops in selected districts. Phase-I (2012-2016) Implemented jointly with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare under programme funding.                            | Completed                                                |
| Title: Objectives: Timeline:                                     | Bioenergy from Crop Residues (Remote Sensing Based Assessment) Assessment of crop residue generation and spatial availability for bioenergy applications using satellite data and geospatial modelling. 2018-2021 21 Lakhs, Funded by DST                                                                          | Completed                                                |
| Financial Outlay: Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay: | Crop Insurance Decision Support System - Odisha Development of geospatial decision support tools for crop insurance including crop area mapping, smart sampling for CCEs and yield estimation support using satellite data. 2018-2020 Implemented through collaborative project funding with Government of Odisha. | Currently operational at Odisha.                         |
| Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay:                   | Crop Insurance Support- West Bengal Use of remote sensing and geospatial analytics for crop area mapping, yield estimation support and composite yield index development to strengthen crop insurance implementation. 2017-2021 Supported through collaborative project with Government of West Bengal.            | Operational in West Bengal under Bango Sasya Beema Yojna |

| Project Information                            | Project Information                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Status                                                                                                                             |
|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay: | MahaAgriTech Project (Maharashtra) Development of geospatial platform for agricultural monitoring including crop mapping, crop condition monitoring, yield assessment and disaster impact assessment using satellite data and analytics. 2021- Ongoing. Implemented through collaborative project funding with Government of Maharashtra                               | Operational decision support system developed; satellite-based crop information being generated                                    |
| Title: Objectives: Timeline: Financial Outlay: | MP-AgriGIS (Madhya Pradesh) Development of a comprehensive geospatial agricultural information system including crop mapping, sown area monitoring, yield estimation and digital agriculture support for state-level planning. 2023- Ongoing Implemented through collaborative project funding with Government of Madhya Pradesh.                                      | System under operational implementation with generation of crop maps, sown area progression and analytical products for the state. |
| Title: Objectives: Timeline:                   | Space technology Utilization for Food security AgricuLtural Assessment and Monitoring (SUFALAM Phase-II) Crop Production and Price Forecasting, Precision Agriculture, Value-Added Decision Support Systems for advisory and drought assessment December 2024 to November 2027 15 Cr., Funded by DoS                                                                   | Ongoing                                                                                                                            |
| Financial Outlay: Title: Objectives:           | India Potato Crop Monitoring (IPCM) To develop a geospatial India Potato Crop Monitoring System with a dashboard for automated potato yield estimation using the remote sensing and in-situ data.                                                                                                                                                                      | Ongoing                                                                                                                            |
| Financial Outlay: Title: Objectives: Timeline: | 258 Lakhs, Funded by MoA&FW National System for Geospatial Crop Yield Estimation using Satellite Remote Sensing based Semi-Physical Model (FASAL 2.0) To develop a geospatial yield estimation system with a dashboard for automated crop yield estimation using the remote sensing based semi-physical model. Total number of targeted crops are 10. 2024- March 2029 | Ongoing                                                                                                                            |

| Project Information         | Project Information                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | Status                                                                   |
|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Financial Outlay:           | 340.52 Lakhs funded by MoA&FW                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |                                                                          |
| Title: Objectives:          | Applications of Space Techniques for Agricultural Assessment in North Eastern Region (ASAAN) Satellite-based crop acreage estimation and cropping pattern analysis, crop site-suitability and fallow area mapping.                                                                                  | Completed: winter Rice acreage in NER estimated during 2022, 2023 & 2024 |
| Timeline: Financial Title:  | 2022-2025 260 Lakhs, Funded by MoDONER/NEC. Space-based Support for Integrated Development of Horticulture in NER                                                                                                                                                                                   |                                                                          |
| Outlay: Objectives:         | (SSDIH) Identification of suitable areas for expansion of horticultural crops (across NER), site suitability of post-harvest infrastructure (priority districts), geo-tagging of horticultural infrastructure (priority districts) and acreage estimation (priority crops and districts). 2022-2025 | Completed: suitability analysis completed for 52 districts in NER.       |
| Timeline: Financial Outlay: | 240 Lakhs, Funded by MDoNER/NEC                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |                                                                          |