Precision technology to help farmers in India

At the time of sowing this year, when water is most needed, there was almost no rain. Now, shortly before the harvest, it rains... However, for farmer Lovepreet Singh from northern India, Haryana district, not all is lost thanks to new technologies such as GreenSeeker—a portable plant vitality scanning sensor from the American company Trimble.By pointing the unit at plants, the sensor emits beams of red and infrared light. Analyzing the amount of each type of light that reflects the plant, the device shows the vitality of the plant in the form of an NDVI* index.Singh uses GreenSeeker to determine the amount of nitrogen to bring into each part of the flight. This is just one of the precision farming technologies that Singh uses. “Modern technologies in agriculture help me a lot,” he says. I get better weather forecasts by which I can plan the sowing or fertilizing of the plants. Otherwise, unexpected rains will simply wash everything away, and the money and labor invested will go to the wind. Although my profit has not increased dramatically, precision technology helps me reduce my losses.” Laureet Singh and his family own more than 170 acres of land and depend on the farm for their livelihood. Like him are most of the people of Haryana, who are completely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. But not everyone can afford to invest in precision technology — GreenSeeker costs almost 50,000 rupees. Therefore, the local agricultural society helps them by providing the technology for use free of charge.Old friendsNot only modern technologies help farmers. Seeing the lush green fields in Karnal, Haryana, it's hard to imagine farmers worrying about climate change. Previously known as the granary of India, farmers today worry about the infertile soil in the area, whose area is increasing every day. Experts warn that the impact of climate change means that the yield in the coming years will significantly decrease. Rice producers are the first to be affected. One way to deal with the problem is to return to traditional crops such as corn, which used to be one of the main cultivated plantations. 34-year-old Vikas Chaudhary grows rice, corn and wheat. In addition to monitoring the water level, he has installed in a weather station located in the field. Corn used to be considered the food of the poor, but now it is in demand because much of it is exported to China for bird food. Fields in Haryana, where corn has been sown, have doubled in area in recent years. Now its selling price is the same as rice, and the cost of growing it is much lower.” Switching to corn is my best decision so far. My ancestors only grew corn before the whole region was sown with basmati rice, “says Vikas Chaudhary.” I still grow rice, but half of my fields are planted with corn because it requires 70% less water than rice crops. It also becomes ready to harvest faster, which saves us a lot of money.”Be “climate smart”Tarori is one of dozens of settlements in this area that adapt their way of working. The settlement is part of an initiative led by the international consulting agency Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in India.People here are helping each other to switch to so-called climate-change compliant technologies, trying to mitigate the impact of the climate.The Asian Development Bank recently warned that the impact of changing weather could cause huge damage to the Indian economy, reducing by 9% gross domestic product per year over the next century.Therefore, adaptation is critical, says Surabhi Mittal, an economist at The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.” A temperature rise of 2 degrees will most strongly affect wheat yield,” she says. This means that the government will have to contribute a huge additional subsidy, “Mittal adds. The government is slowly changing its agricultural policy to the effects of climate change. While not all farmers have switched to modern technologies yet, the success of neighbors can be the motivating reason for the implementation of precision farming technologies.NDVI* Index - Index indicating the vitality of the plant. Its values range from 0 to 1. The higher the NDVI indicator, the healthier the plant.Source: BBC News