India, US hold symposium on ways to employ remote sensing techniques to better rice production

A computer enhanced satellite photo of Mandya districtWith 90 per cent of the world's rice produced and consumed in Asia, it is hardly surprising that the governments of the continent assign top priority to paddy in their agricultural programmes. India has the largest area under paddy - 38.5 million hectares - and produced 67.7 million tonnes of rice last year. However, this is nothing to boast of as neighbouring China harvested 121 million tonnes of rice from 36.1 million hectares, a record harvest.India's productivity record is also deplorable; it ranks a lowly 17th with 1,752.6 kg a hectare while Japan, the two Koreas, and the United States exceed 5,000 kg per hectare and China is placed fifth with 3,406.6 kg a hectare. In fact, all of India's neighbours, excluding the hilly kingdom of Bhutan, can boast of higher yields per hectare.If India is to be able to meet its domestic needs in the coming years, it is imperative that the National Commission On Agriculture's suggestion of raising productivity levels per hectare to 3,000 kg and more be taken seriously. Last month the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) and Institute For Atmospheric Optics And Remote Sensing, United States, jointly organised an international symposium in Hyderabad on ways to employ remote sensing techniques to better production. These techniques are based on the varying amounts of energy which are emitted by all objects on earth, and which range all over the electromagnetic spectrum.These spectral indicators are distinct and measurable from both aircraft and satellites, and, after the information has been processed by a computer, a map of the surveyed area can be constructed with the various regions in different tones and colours. Thus an up-to-date agriculture map is available, whereas at present, the results of detailed ground surveys are published two years after they are carried out.Experiment: As physiological changes occur in crops with every passing week, the spectral responses vary throughout the growing season. Thus, the responses are periodically recorded to identify crops, their stage of growth and hence forecast the yield. One of the most comprehensive remote sensing experiments in crop estimation is the five-year American Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) which, using data gathered by the Landsat series of satellites, successfully predicted the production of wheat for large countries such as the USSR with fairly constant climatic conditions.What worked for wheat ought to work for rice, and, for the past three years, NRSA is trying to construct a rice-forecasting model through an experiment covering a 300 sq km patch in Mandya district of Karnataka. Says NRSA soil chemist and symposium secretary R. S. Ayyangar: "In this small area alone there are 11 different types of management practices. The parameters are complex: varieties of rice, small field sizes, different fertiliser and pesticide management practices, different crop calendars, and no long-term meteorological forecasts indicating how much water will be available." The NRSA collected data using a multi-spectral scanner fitted into its own Avro aircraft. Asserts NRSA Director K. R. Rao: "A multi-level approach using satellite, high and low altitude aircraft and ground observations must be adopted, each approach acting as a significant sample check of the one that precedes it."Data banks are storing information accumulated via the Landsat series of satellites, aircraft, and ground checks. Says agrometeorologist A. Krishnan of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore: "Now, improvements in remote sensing methodology are required. After identifying crops and measuring hectarage, appropriate crop weather models have to be evolved by studying the way the crop interacts at various stages of its growth with the environment in absorbing water from the soil."The scientists who took part in the symposium have suggested the creation of a panel for technical cooperation. If countries like China and Japan join in the effort - aided by the Landsat, and the French spot satellites expected to be in orbit by 1983 - the paddy crops in Asia could be geared to stabilised high production.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 26, 2013 15:28 IST--- ENDS ---

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India, US hold symposium on ways to employ remote sensing techniques to better rice production

With 90 per cent of the world's rice produced and consumed in Asia, it is hardly surprising that the governments of the continent assign top priority to paddy in their agricultural programmes.

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