CHANDIGARH: To make accurate assessment of crop loss due to inclement weather, Haryana has started using Drone technology on a pilot basis.
"Drone technology will bring transparency and accuracy in assessment of crop loss. Moreover, it will also put an end to complaints lodged by farmers who accuse revenue officials of not making correct loss assessment," Haryana Space Applications Centre, Department of Science and Technology, Haryana) Chief Scientist, R S Hooda told PTI today.
"Haryana is the first state which is using Drone technology for crop loss assessment," he said.
Besides, the use of Drone in assessing the crop loss will also reduce complaints of affected farmers considerably who usually accuse revenue officials (Patwaris) of making negligence in assessment of crop damage whenever state government announces compensation.
Crop loss assessment through Drone technology was conducted on pilot basis in few villages of Hisar and Gurgaon, he said.
"We used Drone to assess wheat and mustard crop loss because of hailstorm and untimely rains," Hooda said.
"We are expecting more than 90 per cent accuracy in results and if this pilot project comes out successful then in future we can use it on operational basis," he informed.
Pune's Science and Technology Park, which is promoted by Centre's Science and Technology Department has deployed German manufactured imaging Drone in Haryana for crop damage assessment, he informed.
"Drone which is called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is fitted with scanning sensors and it can capture the image of affected area with a resolution of 3-5 cm with detailed imaging from the height of about 200 meters," Hooda said adding that it would help in assessing accurate percentage of crop damage whether the loss is 25 per cent or 75 per cent.
Notably, last year when Haryana government disbursed financial compensation of Rs 1,092 crore for wheat damage due to untimely rains and hailstorm, many farmers complained of inaccurate crop loss assessment, leading to disbursal of lesser compensation.
Haryana had even tried to assess crop loss assessment through US Satellite. But Hooda said it was difficult to get accurate percentage of crop damage through Satellite.
He said in Adampur tehsil of Hisar district, crop loss assessment was done through Drone as well as by revenue officials.
"Our main objective is to match the result of loss assessment worked out by Patwaris with that of drone to know actual crop loss," Hooda said.