Agri Ministry inks MoU with Pixxel Space to develop geospatial solutions

This will enable the government to develop use cases with hyperspectral data provided by Pixxel. "Hyperspectral remote sensing technology includes spectral measurements in narrow wavelength bands by satellites and such measurements offer certain unique indices to monitor and assess the health of crops and soils," the statement said.

This is an emerging technology with unique capabilities for monitoring agriculture. Crop health monitoring by detecting the changes in chlorophyll content and canopy moisture status, using hyperspectral data would be beneficial to find crop risk management solutions for farmers.

Soil nutrient mapping including soil organic carbon assessments is one of the important applications of hyperspectral technology. The soil reflectance observations measured by the sensors offer more direct, cost-effective data sets to estimate soil organic carbon.

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"This will also help to develop the early detection of crop stress, accurate diagnostics of crop stress due to pest/disease or water using hyper spectral data offer numerous opportunities to strengthen the current advisory system of the Government benefiting to millions of farmers," the statement said. Ahuja said such types of collaboration with young startup company will go a long way toward developing innovative geospatial solutions using advanced satellite imaging technology. The new technology will reduce dependence on manual surveys and measurements which are time-consuming and prone to errors.