Roli Jindal, Co-Founder, RMSI Cropalytics (Express Photo)Deep tech company RMSI Cropalytics has many firsts to its credit. The company, which leverages its expertise in geospatial technology, has come out with what is termed as India’s first ever village-level crop map.
Roli Jindal, Co-Founder, RMSI Cropalytics, spoke with The Indian Express about the maps and how they can help both farmers and industries alike. Excerpts:
How different are these maps from those provided by the government and industry bodies like ISMA or SOPA
Government and industry bodies do not provide geo-referenced crop maps. They provide acreage estimates by district or sub-district. These acreages are not plotted on any map.
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The RMSI Cropalytics Crop Map aims to provide the geo-location of standing crops. They allow acreage aggregation at any level – village, gram panchayat, taluka or district. Since the acreages are plotted on the map and measured for the area, they are more accurate and actionable at higher resolutions.
Given the fact that our area produce and yield estimates vary year on year, how does your product manage to address the gaps in the system? What are the major gaps and how did you address them?
The crop map will be updated every crop season. It allows tracking changes in sowing patterns, shifting between crops and estimating the extent of early or delayed sowing.
For a country like India where a single village can report two different types of weather, how can your product help the industry with accurate data? What has been the base of your product?
RMSI Cropalytics maps are based on the application of AI/ML to satellite imagery.
Crop Maps are essential for structuring and organizing agricultural data season after season. They will act as a base layer for all data stacks – land ownership, weather, farming practices and input consumption, health tracking and yield measurement.
Given the fact that this data would mostly be used by the companies or government, how do you see the real benefit being passed on to the farmers?
Geo-location of standing crops is essential for any government or private body to provide efficient and targeted services to the farmers.
Governments can better identify distressed acreages, input companies can better allocate stock and manpower, insurance companies can settle claims faster and banks can monitor loanee acreages better.