NEW DELHI, December 13 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Space Satellites herald Agritech revolution and Agritech StartUps which is going to mark a major next breakthrough for India’s Agriculture sector after the Green revolution of yesteryears.
The Minister said, satellite imaging, remote sensing from Department of Space, Genetic and Agri yield technologies from Department of Biotechnology, Irradiation and preservation of shelf-life techniques from Department of Atomic Energy and food fortification research in CSIR labs will change the face of Agriculture in India along with Drones and Geospatial Data mapping.
Flanked by Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, Dr Jitendra Singh was speaking after formally releasing the data products and services of RISAT-1A satellite for agricultural use at Krishi Bhawan here.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that some of the unique operational applications which RISAT-1A offer include “Revolutionary Radar Images” which is High-End, Strategic Technology mainly used for Defence, but in this case will be widely utilized for civilian use in Agriculture Sector. The Minister said, data from RISAT-1A include Kharif crop sowing prospect, estimating crop damage severity levels, forest cover mapping and water body mapping etc.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, under the Modi Government’s SVAMITVA scheme, geospatial technology along with Drones will survey all the over 6 lakh Indian villages and at the same time, pan-India 3D Maps will be prepared for 100 Indian cities. The Minister said, the Trinity of Geospatial Systems, Drone Policy and Unlocked Space Sector will be a game-changer for Indian Agriculture in both augmenting the farmers income and realising the vision of the $5 trillion economy.
Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that RISAT-1A was the first satellite funded by four users’ ministries viz., Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers welfare, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Space. He said, this is first of its kind in the Indian space programme, as the data from this satellite is having significant use in agriculture and disaster management sectors. The Minister said, this also underlines Prime Minister Modi’s Integration Approach as well as Whole of Government Approach and added that with the involvement of Kisans, it will turn into Whole of Society Approach.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, taking a cue from PM Modi’s out-of-box approach, in 2016 ISRO held a brainstorming session with Line Ministries to understand their needs and provide applications and solutions to individual Departments/Ministries. He said, as a result of that visionary meeting, today, we are witnessing widespread application of Space Technology in fields like Agriculture, Soils, Water Resources, Land Use/Land Cover, Rural Development, Earth and Climate Studies, Geosciences, Urban & Infrastructure, Disaster Management Support, Forestry and Ecology and Using Geospatial Technology as a tool for enabling Decision Support Systems.
The Minister also informed that in the recent past all the seven different Departments and Ministries related to science, namely, Science & Technology, Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Earth Sciences, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Atomic Energy and Space held brainstorming sessions with each of the Line Ministries like Agriculture, Jal Shakti, Railways, Health, Highways, etc. in tune with Whole of Government Approach, Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Manjoj Ahuja, Secretary Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO Shri S Somanath and officials from both the Departments joined the meeting.
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