Hyderabad: The Telangana government is poised to adopt cutting-edge technology in agricultural planning, as State Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao chaired a review meeting on Friday on a new crop monitoring proposal presented by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTAU).

The project aims to deploy Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for the precise estimation of crop areas across the state. Minister Rao stated that such pre-season estimations will enhance the effective implementation of government schemes and enable more responsive policy decisions. He directed university scientists to prepare and execute the technology-based assessment plan by August–September, assuring full government support and funding for its implementation.

University scientists highlighted their ongoing experiments in collaboration with a Swiss company, demonstrating the effectiveness of SAR-based crop recording during the rainy seasons across multiple states. The precision achieved through SAR imagery enables the accurate tracking of crop distribution, even under dense cloud cover—a significant limitation in traditional satellite methods.

The review meeting explored future possibilities in agriculture, particularly focusing on how sensor technologies could help forecast pest attacks in advance. Minister Rao recommended that PJTAU (Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University) begin field trials on various crops starting this season. Researchers highlighted that data generated by sensors allows for earlier detection and targeted pest control, outperforming traditional satellite systems in terms of responsiveness and detail.

As the state prepares to implement a new crop insurance scheme, the minister urged PJTAU to develop and distribute comprehensive technical guidelines to support effective policy implementation and enhance farmer awareness. The integration of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and sensor data will be crucial for risk assessment and claims processing under the forthcoming insurance framework.

The review included Dr. Sameerendu Mohanty, Professor of Practice; Dr. T.L. Neelima, Scientist; Dr. Y. Balaram, Research Director; and Dr. B. Balaji Nayak, Director of the Digital Agriculture Center. The proposed innovations represent a significant advancement in digitizing agriculture in Telangana. With scientific expertise and policy alignment, PJTAU’s roadmap could transform how crop data is recorded, analyzed, and utilized, benefiting both farmers and agricultural planners, according to the participating experts from the university.