Satellite-Based Crop Monitoring Strengthens India’s Production Estimates
18 December 2025, New Delhi: India is increasingly relying on satellite technology and data integration to improve the accuracy of crop production estimates and farm-level decision-making. Under the FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based observations) programme, the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) generates satellite-based pre-harvest production estimates for 11 major crops, including paddy, wheat, jute, cotton, sugarcane, soybean, tur, gram, mustard, lentil and rabi sorghum.
The system uses a combination of multispectral and microwave satellite data for crop mapping, while satellite-derived indices and weather information are integrated through weather-based and remote sensing models to estimate crop yields. This technology-led approach enables early and more reliable assessments of agricultural output across the country.
At present, the FASAL programme covers 20 states and 557 districts. These include Andhra Pradesh (26 districts), Assam (33), Bihar (38), Chhattisgarh (33), Gujarat (29), Haryana (22), Himachal Pradesh (7), Jharkhand (24), Karnataka (22), Kerala (2), Madhya Pradesh (52), Maharashtra (29), Odisha (30), Punjab (22), Rajasthan (32), Tamil Nadu (21), Telangana (32), Uttar Pradesh (75), Uttarakhand (7) and West Bengal (21).
Space-based inputs are also being actively used under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). These inputs support better planning of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), yield estimation at the Gram Panchayat level for crops such as paddy, wheat and soybean under the YESTech (Yield Estimation System using Technology), and help address discrepancies related to crop area and yield assessments.
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW), in collaboration with MNCFC, is working closely with ISRO to generate operational crop yield estimates using semi-physical models. ISRO centres are additionally supporting research and development efforts to expand assessment to more crops in the future.
State agriculture departments play a key role in this process by providing ground-level data required to train crop mapping models under the FASAL programme, ensuring better alignment between satellite observations and field realities.
This information was shared by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ramnath Thakur, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
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