In a big relief to farmers, Government of India has launched ‘Kisan’ project on October 5, 2015 that will eventually fasten the settlement of crop insurance payment claims. State agriculture officials will now be using satellite and drone-based imaging, along with sophisticated modelling activity and other geospatial technology for getting high resolution remote sensing data. This will not only garner timely results but will also increase the level of accuracy on crop yields through more effectual crop cutting experiments. In addition to this, Ministry of Agriculture has also launched an Android-based app for assessment of data of hailstorm for accessing large-scale destruction of standing crops. “The pilot study will be initially conducted in rice and cotton fields in four districts during the ongoing Kharif season in Shimoga- Karnataka, Yavatmal- Maharastra, Kurkshetra-Haryana and Seoni-Madhya Pradesh,” said Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture at the event. He further added that study will also be carried out during upcoming Rabi season in four more districts of the same states for rice, wheat and shorghum. Government plans to expand the programme post the result of the initial study. Block level yield estimation and development of a new index based insurance approach, using remote sensing data are also envisaged under the project, as reported by The Economic Times. Prestigious institutions such as Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, India Meteorological Department, State Agriculture Departments and Remote Sensing Centres, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have joined hands for conducting the programme. App to assess hailstorm damage Government in association with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has developed an app, which can be used through smartphones. Officials will be able to collect hailstorm data through this, along with photographs and locations. This data will be then uploaded on real-time to ISRO's Bhuvan server. Moreover, farmers will also be able to download the app and send pictures of hailstorm all by themselves. Every year, farmers of India suffer huge losses due to crop damage. However, they do not get timely compensation for the loss. As a result, hundreds of farmers commit suicide. Thus, such programmes are the need of the hour that would give new lease of life to the aggrieved farmers. Source - http://www.skymetweather.com