New Delhi: The government is now using satellites, drones, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and the Internet of Things to keep tabs on crops across the country, the Lok Sabha was told on Monday. Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur set out the details in a written reply, listing a string of platforms that feed into everything from yield estimates to insurance payouts.
The systems range from satellite-based forecasting tools to AI chatbots that answer farmers’ questions in their own language. Together, they’re meant to give both officials and farmers a clearer, faster picture of what’s happening in the fields, particularly when disaster strikes or a crop insurance claim needs settling.
Satellites and GIS doing the groundwork
At the centre of this effort is FASAL, or Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based observations, which produces pre-harvest production forecasts at national, state and district level. It draws on multispectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite data and currently covers 11 major crops, including paddy, wheat, cotton and sugarcane, across 20 states.
Alongside this, the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre regularly puts out vegetation condition maps, soil moisture readings, drought assessments, and flood and hailstorm impact reports, all built from remote sensing data, to help manage crops through difficult conditions.
A separate tool, the Krishi Decision Support System, brings together satellite, weather, soil, reservoir and groundwater data alongside information on government schemes. Officials use it for crop mapping, tracking crop diversification, monitoring droughts and floods, and estimating yields to settle insurance claims.
Two more schemes work specifically under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the government’s crop insurance programme. YES-TECH uses satellite-based yield models to estimate output at the Gram Panchayat level for paddy, wheat and soybean across 12 states, while WINDS is building up weather infrastructure with automatic weather stations at the block level and rain gauges at the Gram Panchayat level, currently running in seven states.
Drones reaching more farmers
Drone use is being pushed through the Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanisation, which covers half the cost of a kisan drone for agriculture graduates and small and marginal farmers in the north-eastern states, and 40 per cent for other farmers. The same 40 per cent support applies to setting up custom hiring centres for drones. So far, 2,122 drones have been distributed or approved under the scheme.
A second initiative, Namo Drone Didi, gives drones to women’s self-help groups so they can offer rental spraying services, including fertiliser and pesticide application, to farmers in their area. According to the Department of Fertilizers, 1,094 drones have reached these groups, whose members are trained at flying schools authorised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
AI tools advising farmers directly
On the artificial intelligence side, the National Pest Surveillance System lets farmers photograph pests on their crops and get help identifying and managing them, covering 73 crops and 436 pests. It has issued 35,565 advisories so far, and also feeds AI-based analysis of field photographs into satellite crop mapping and crop-weather monitoring.
BharatVistaar, a multilingual AI platform, goes further, offering location-specific advisories alongside details of government schemes, weather forecasts, mandi prices, pest and disease identification, soil health recommendations and a grievance system, all accessible through a chatbot, a mobile app and a dedicated helpline. It has served more than 5.9 lakh farmers and answered upwards of 93 lakh queries, and carries information on 18 central schemes.
Krishi Vigyan Kendras, meanwhile, rely on Kisan Sarathi, a platform built by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, to send crop-specific advice to farmers. More than 2.97 crore farmers are now registered on it.
Linking data to benefits and payouts
A wider effort, AgriStack, ties this data into the delivery of government support. It helps target beneficiaries for direct cash transfers under PM-KISAN, supports Minimum Support Price procurement through the Food Corporation of India, and speeds up crop insurance settlements. The government said it has also sped up disaster relief payments in Maharashtra and cut Kisan Credit Card loan approvals to within half an hour.
The Farmer ID created under this system is being used to enrol farmers in crop insurance, link them to procurement under the PM-ASHA price support scheme, and connect their records to Soil Health Cards. Digital Crop Survey data is separately being used to produce near real-time estimates of crop production.
Under the National Mission on Natural Farming, the Krishi Mapper application is being used to geo-reference natural farms and farming clusters.