Hyperspectral Imaging-based integrated Decision Support System
BharatRohan
Stage of adaption :
Cultivation Stage
BharatRohan partners with farmers by empowering them with efficient and profitable crop production through its Hyperspectral Imaging-based integrated Decision Support System which enables buyers to sustainably procure safest farm products.
We are now working with around 3600 farmers in 69 villages of Barabanki District in Uttar Pradesh. We support these farmers throughout the different crops like Japanese Mint in Zaidi season, Paddy in Kharif and Potato in Rabi. The Japanese Mint is the main cash crop that we work in which is a very susceptible to pest attacks, fungal infections and needs proper water management.
We fly our Drones over these farmer fields every 10-15 days to collect the data and provide prescription maps which classify crop based on crop issues like Mint rust, hairy caterpillar infestation and zinc deficiency. Within 48 hours, an advisory is generated and issued to the farmers with actionable measures to be taken. The implementation of these advisories is then audited and validated by our field staff. Consequently, our farmers reduce the agri-inputs to around Rs. 3620 per acre and increased their yield of Mentha oil from 50 kg per acre to 70 kg per acre. Moreover, the oil distilled by BharatRohan farmers also contains more than 73% of Menthol content than a conventional farmer which has 68% of menthol content in their Mentha oil.
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF
Our technology is based on Hyperspectral Imaging which determines minuscule colour changes occurring in the plants due to physiological and phenological changes. For example: When a disease like bacterial blight infects a pomegranate plant, it is caused by a pathogen called Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae. This pathogen releases a number of effector proteins including TAL effectors into the plant through their secretion system. This effector protein causes some biochemical change in the plants and leaves. With human eyes, these changes become visible only when the water absorbing red-brown spots become visible on leaves to human naked eye. But with Hyperspectral imaging, we are able to identify the colour changes occurring in the leaves due to these biochemical changes – even at just the onset of the infestation which helps us in providing early predictions and forecasts to the growers so that losses can be prevented. We diagnose the problems of the farmer field with a non-destructive method of Hyperspectral Imaging and create prescription maps. These prescription maps are then converted into recommendations reports in vernacular language of the farmers. The recommendations are duly validated by the agronomists/pathologist/entomologists of BharatRohan.
BENEFITS
● Early diagnosis of pest attacks, diseases or nutrient deficiencies
● Reduction in crop losses
● Optimized agriculture inputs
● Reduction in pesticide residual in crops
● Improved crop quality
● Decision Support System (DSS) ensures traceable crop procurement for large-scale commodity buyers
TECHNOLOGY READINESS
Deployed in Large Scale
• Serving 250 farmers in Warangal District of Telangana for Chilli Crop
• Serving with more than 3600 farmers in 69 villages of Barabanki District of Uttar Pradesh for Mentha, Paddy and Potato
• Serving 300 farmers in 12 villages of Balrampur District of Uttar Pradesh
• Serving 200 farmers in Sitapur and Fatehpur Distrcts of Uttar Pradesh
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Technology Not Protected
CERTIFICATION
Not Applicable
TARGET CUSTOMERS
• Farmers are the users of the Technology based services
• Agribusinesses are the paying customers for the traceability dashboard and the agriculture commodity they procure from BharatRohan Farmers.
SCALABILITY
● We require 16 UAVs/Drones to service 1,50,000 acres with our Technology based services with a cadence of 15 days.
● A single UAV/Drone can cover more than 1000 acres of area in a single day
LIMITATIONS
● Government restrictions on flight of UAVs/Drones
● Lack of paying customers
TECHNOLOGY COST
It costs us Rs. 500 per acre per crop season to service farmers and help them reduce the crop losses which translate into a savings of around 20-30% of their crop.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Our farmers reduce the agri-inputs to around Rs. 3620 per acre and increased their yield of Mentha oil from 50 kg per acre to 70 kg per acre. Moreover, the oil distilled by BharatRohan farmers also contains more than 73% of Menthol content than a conventional farmer which has 68% of menthol content in their Mentha oil. Overall, our services have helped farmers earn an extra profit margin of Rs. 23620 per acre per crop season.
CONTACT
kisanmitr@indiancst.in
TOLL FREE
1800 258 2010
ONLINE HELP DESK
+91 97 429 79 111