India: ISRO proposed dedicated satellites for the agriculture sector

According to the chairman of the space agency, S. Somanath, specialized satellites have been recommended by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to boost the nation's agriculture industry.

On the sidelines of the Engineers Conclave 2022, which is currently taking place at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiyamala here, Mr. Somanath stated that discussions regarding the proposed 'Bharat Krishi Satellite' program had been held with the Department of Agriculture, the Government of India.

According to Mr. Somanath, two satellites will be required to ensure appropriate coverage of the nation's total agricultural region. They will support a variety of farming-related tasks like crop forecasts, pesticide application, irrigation, soil data collection, and the creation of vital drought-related data.

Crop yield occurs over a few months, not over a week. Thus, constant surveillance is required. Today's satellites aren't sufficient. Therefore, you must add more satellites with high revisit capabilities. That is what we suggested doing,' Mr. Somanath stated. He further said that the Department of Agriculture, GoI, and not ISRO, will be the satellites' owners. ISRO will offer technical assistance.

To overcome the current shortcomings in earth observation capability and data utilization, the ISRO chairman has proposed the establishment of an 'Earth Observation Council.'

He claimed that such a council might address issues in this area in a centralized manner.

According to Mr. Somanath, current shortcomings include the following:

• A lack of continuous earth observation missions.

• Low utilization of available remote sensing data.

• Technological gaps.

• A lack of a streamlined method for data handling and distribution as demanded by the sector