ISRO proposes Bharat Krishi Satellite Programme
Context
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed dedicated satellites for supporting the country’s agriculture sector.
About Bharat Krishi Satellite Programme
- The programme will include satellites for supporting the country’s agriculture sector.
- Minimum of two satellites are stipulated to guarantee adequate coverage of the entire agricultural area of the country.
- They will aid a gamut of farm-related activities related to crop forecasting, pesticide application, irrigation, soil data, and generation of critical data related to drought.
- The satellites will be owned by the Department of Agriculture and not by ISRO.
- The ISRO will provide the technical support.
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Currently used satellites for agriculture
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- An ‘Earth Observation Council’ be created for addressing the current deficiencies in earth observation capabilities and data utilisation.
- Such a council can tackle shortcomings in this area in a centralised manner.
Why need such a program?
- Current deficiencies include:
- Discontinuity in earth observation missions
- Low utilisation of available remote sensing data
- Technology gaps
- Absence of a streamlined mechanism for data processing and dissemination as required by the industry
