Bihar government begins digital survey of crops

The digital survey was kicked off from the Badhshahpur in Sheikhpura in the presence of Sheikhpura district magistrate J Priyadarshini and senior district and state agriculture officials

The Bihar government state agriculture department on Thursday launched the digital crop survey from Sheikhpura for assessing the nature of crops sown in various seasons in different areas and gather information on crop varieties, which would help the government to implement marketing of agricultural produce and provide better crop insurance to farmers during any calamity, government officials said.

Digital crop survey was launched from Sheikhpura (Twitter/@Agribih)

The app-based digital survey is being undertaken after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Union agriculture ministry, Bihar state agriculture department, and Revenue and land reforms department to create a data bank of the variety of crops sown in any particular plot of land in a given area.

The digital survey was kicked off from the Badhshahpur in Sheikhpura in the presence of Sheikhpura district magistrate J Priyadarshini and senior district and state agriculture officials.

In the initial phase, five districts– Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Munger, Lakhisarai and Jehanabad, have been selected in this Rabi season for digital survey, officials said.

“The digital crop survey will be done in 831 villages in five districts on a pilot basis in the rabi season through an app-based system,” said a senior agriculture officer.

“Each plot with the help of cadastral maps would be surveyed by the field staff to know which type of crop is sown in a particular plot of land in the next few months and a database would be set up,” he added.

Through the app-based digital survey, the database about crop varieties being sown in any plot of land in agricultural areas in rural areas of districts would help the state agriculture department to get comprehensive data about the nature of crops sown in different seasons at the micro level.

“This data will help in marketing the agricultural produce as the government would be able to provide a better market for varieties of crops. The data will also be useful in providing crop insurance to farmers in case of any calamity like floods or drought. Besides, it would also help in implementing and framing new policies,” said another agriculture officer.

Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, agriculture department secretary, said the digital crop survey would help farmers, and also facilitate the implementation of various schemes in the farm sector in a bid to increase agricultural production.