Agriculture

Crop Intensification

India grows 36 Mha of rice crop in kharif season in India. This is important contribution to food production in India as rice is the main food crop. It is observed that about 30% of this area is left fallow after the harvest of rice crop. Mapping and monitoring of post-kharif rice fallow lands using satellite data will help identification of suitable areas for intensification of rabi crop area. Kharif rice areas in conjunction with subsequent rabi crop areas have been compared to arrive at the fallow lands left uncultivated in rabi season. These areas have been analyzed along with corresponding soil and climate parameters to assess their suitability for cultivating short duration pulses during subsequent rabi season.

Sub district level spatial level information is generated and studied for the assessment of crop intensification in major rice-growing states of India  namely  Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal. The aim of this project is to provide an estimate of spatial extent and distribution of post kharif rice – rabi fallows, and also their suitability for growing short duration pulses.

Mobile applications are deployed for seasonal  field data collection for geo-tagging the crop scenario.Information is available on Bhuvan-Crop intensification portal which is useful for decision makers, extension agencies and researchers.