Geomaticians

India Sharpens Focus On Geospatial Technology Application In Agriculture

The Government of India has been emphasising on the use of technology for the benefit of the agriculture sector and farmers. The government has taken several initiatives towards promoting digital agriculture. Agriculture Ministry set up a specialised organisation Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) in 2012 as an attached office of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW), focusing on enhancing satellite remote sensing and GIS technologies in crop estimation. Considering the recent advancements in geospatial technology, DA&FW has recognised the need to scale up the technology solutions in agriculture decision support. In this direction, the first meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee for strengthening and transforming MNCFC into a centre of excellence in the field of geospatial technology applications was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, DA&FW recently. Experts from ISRO centres, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), National Institute of Advanced Studies and senior officials from DA&FW participated in the meeting.