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.

• 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