4 days ago
State adopts Centre's digital system to estimate crop yield
Panaji:
The directorate of agriculture has adopted a cutting-edge digital system to estimate crop yield. Developed by the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare, the system includes features such as real-time data entry from the field through a mobile app, GPS-tagged images for increased accountability and verification, automated plot selection to reduce human bias and errors, and a web-based dashboard for centralised data monitoring and yield generation.
This ensures that data collection is both precise and verifiable.
The new system is part of the nationwide digital general crop estimation survey (DGCES), which aims to replace the decades-old manual process with a more transparent and accurate approach. 'This system is only for field crops, not horticulture crops. So far, 60 paddy plots and six sugarcane plots have been covered in Goa. Now, a survey of rabi crops is ongoing for pulses, groundnuts, and vegetables,' an agriculture official told
TOI
.
Traditionally, the general crop estimation survey (GCES) has employed crop cutting experiments (CCE) based on scientifically designed sampling methods.
These experiments have covered 68 types of crops, including 52 food and 16 non-food varieties. However, the existing manual process of recording and data submission is time-consuming.
'With the implementation of the DGCES platform, Goa will begin capturing CCE data in real time through a dedicated mobile application and web portal,' the official said.
'The system will reduce delays in data submission and yield computation, issues that have historically plagued the manual system. It is a move towards making agriculture smarter, faster, and more transparent,' the official added.
Currently, only a few states such as Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have adopted the GCES process. The initiative operates in three major phases: Preparation of district-wise plans to identify sampling areas, field-level execution including — CCE implementation and data recording — and the generation of yield estimates using data analytics and automated computation tools.
'Farmers and agricultural extension officers are being trained on the new digital tools to ensure smooth implementation. The adoption is expected to not only streamline internal processes but to also provide stakeholders — especially policymakers and insurance providers — with more reliable data,' the official said.
