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The Bengaluru-based IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticultural Research) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) are working on a pilot project to provide a mango production advisory to the State government. The first such advisory is expected by the end of 2020.
Speaking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of an agri machinery fair jointly organised by the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd and Vivekananda College of Engineering and Technology at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, MR Dinesh, Director, IIHR, said the institute had a meeting with ISRO on making use of space, drone and ground-level data for estimating crop production. These two organisations entered into an agreement three months ago to collect data and superimpose them to develop an advisory for perennial crops. The advisory will give an indication on the estimated quantity of production.
ISRO will provide space and drone data, and the IIHR scientists will collect ground-level data. The project is being taken up on a pilot basis in the major mango growing areas of Kolar and Ramnagar districts in Karnataka.
Stating that the project may require at least a year or more to come out with production advisory, he said the identification of parameters is important for this project. Parameters such as climate data, ground data, moisture, temperature, humidity, varietal data, soil types and soil fertility should be taken. Proper data should be obtained during all the seasons, he said.
To a query on limiting the pilot project to two districts, he said the identification of parameters is important for the project rather than the area. Better will be the model, even if more time is taken for the ground work.
“We have started the project with the mango crop,” he said, hoping that the first advisory for mangoes may come by the end of 2020.
He said the advisory can give information ranging from flowering of the crop to the estimated crop size during the season concerned. This advisory can also help the government fix a base price for the crop.
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