Tata Kisan Sansars, the agricultural extension service provided by Tata Chemicals, are leveraging satellite and information technology to help farmers maximise the yield from their land

The Tata Kisan Sansar (TKS) network is a natural corollary to the Tata Group's belief that technology can and must be harnessed to solve India's social and economic problems. The concept of precision farming being implemented by the TKS has the potential to catapult rural India from the bullock-cart age into the new era of satellites and IT.

Precision farming, an innovative project pioneered by the TKSs, is helping small farmers harness sophisticated modern technology, such as satellite mapping and geographical information systems (GIS), to maximise the yield from their land.

GISs are computerised systems that record, store, analyse and produce maps and geographic products based on information obtained from different sources. These help farmers adapt quickly to changing conditions. The result: healthier crops, higher yields and enhanced incomes for farmers.

Using GIS to maximise profits
The precision-farming project leverages satellite and information technology to serve the needs of Indian farmers. The operation involves combining satellite maps, census data, and socioeconomic and other data collected within the GIS to create a valuable agricultural database.

The TKS network collects census data from the districts where it operates. This information and the spatial data generated by the GIS facility are correlated with socioeconomic information, such as the name of the owner of a plot, the crop grown on it, the number of members in the family, the family's level of education, its annual income, and so on.

Both raw and processed data are fed into the GIS, which then becomes the basis for providing quality decision-support for the agronomy services offered by the TKSs. The agronomist at the Sansar uses the analysis of topography, soils, climate, hydrology, cropping systems and crop suitability to advise farmers on which crops to grow, how to manage his crops, when to sell what (market trends), and which fertiliser to use where, etc. The goal is to maximise the yield from each farmer's landholding.