GIS is an effective tool for mapping natural resources and has become vital in grasping spatial and temporal factors that influence crop growth
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 per cent of the country’s population and accounts for almost 15.4 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The future growth in this sector must come from new technologies which are not only user-friendly and cost-effective but are also in conformity with the climatic regime of India. They must provide better data for improved research, better results and sustainable planning; continued genetic improvement for better seeds and yields; for bridging the gap between knowledge and practice; judicious land-use resource surveys, efficient management practices and sustainable use of natural resources.
This is where the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies comes in. Their use in the farm sector over the years has helped farmers increase production, reduce costs as well as manage land resources in a more efficient manner.
GIS has not only emerged as an effective tool for mapping of natural resources but has also become quintessential in understanding various spatial and temporal factors that influence crop growth. Solutions like agricultural mapping play a vital role in the monitoring and management of soil and irrigation of farmlands.
By utilising spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions, GIS can be used for creating resources such as crop mapping for yield estimation; assessment of crops and their health; mapping of irrigated landscapes; amendment analysis of soil and irrigation; suitability assessment studies; identification and remediation of erosion; agricultural mapping for detailed vegetation cover and monitoring; change-detection studies and developing crop models; assessment studies on damage and land degradation; elevation models for efficient drainage and management of pesticides. GIS technology along with other technological innovations can help in creating a complete ecosystem of dynamic services for the agriculture sector, resulting in more accurate and reliable crop estimates that can help in reducing uncertainty in these trying times.
Precision farming is one such result of the integration of various technologies into a single system that is operational at a farm level with sustainable effort. Managing agriculture at small, site-specific crop areas means that the identification of each field location is essential. Precision agriculture hence can be implemented by improvising and improving upon traditional farming practices and then deriving maximum benefits with the help of GIS and Remote Sensing (RS) technologies.
Usage of geo-positioning devices, which could range from simple smartphones to other hand-held devices, can help in mapping of fields and enabling farmers in getting site-specific, precise solutions for the challenges being faced by them. With the help of GIS and RS, spatial content related to other web-based applications has now become available, which is a really powerful tool for the monitoring of crop stages, disease-management, yield-estimation, soil-mapping, weed-mapping, hotspots for disease incidences and so on.
With the proliferation of technological advancements in the field of agriculture, through the aid of spatial decision support systems, various applications that can look at potential sites, crop simulation models, pest-management, food and security analysis and so on, are now available. The increased necessity of sharing information over the internet has led to online, web-based real-time applications now replacing traditional standalone applications. These go on to provide a major advantage in the form of spatial libraries that can be referenced by millions of users. This further results in easily accessible information that can also be used for policy-making and implementing new strategies that can aid in improved agricultural practices.
Leveraging GIS technologies when it comes to the farm sector is quite essential for getting accurate information regarding various landscapes. Hence, GIS can play an important role in the industry by aiding growers in increasing production, improved understanding of farming areas, promotion of agriculture development and also assisting in identification of handling issues that are essential for strengthening the agricultural sector further.
A platform to develop agriculture-related applications like change detection, water bodies identification, crop health monitoring using multispectral satellite imagery and crop yield estimation is required. Such a platform can be used to disseminate information to the public and can also gather Internet of Things data feeds for real time modelling. GIS on cloud will boost the sector with more innovative solutions in times to come and will provide farmers with more accurate information and help the Government to monitor the status on the ground.
(The writer is Co-Founder and Director of an agritech company)