Raipur — In a bid to sharpen the accuracy of this year’s kharif crop assessment, the Chhattisgarh government has turned to unmanned aerial vehicles. The traditional girdawari exercise, due for completion in October, will now be bolstered by high‑resolution drone maps that are cross‑checked with on‑the‑ground inspections carried out by revenue officials.
Drone‑derived maps meet field verification
Compact UAVs are sweeping the state’s principal farming belts, snapping detailed images that reveal field boundaries, crop‑type mosaics and the exact extent of cultivated land. The raw imagery is transformed into a digital ledger that logs the location and variety of every crop.
Concurrently, revenue teams are making physical visits to farms, matching what they see on the ground with the satellite‑like drone records. Any inconsistency triggers a flag for deeper investigation.
Real‑time oversight of the girdawari process
Senior administrators are monitoring the survey’s progress in near‑real time, reviewing reports submitted by field crews. When a discrepancy emerges—such as a crop listed in official registers that does not exist in the field—the responsible officers must furnish an explanation.
This two‑pronged strategy is intended to prune errors from the state’s crop database and deliver a more reliable picture of agricultural output.
Detecting illegal opium and cannabis cultivation
The aerial sweep is not confined to legal kharif crops. Authorities are also scanning for unauthorized opium and cannabis plantations. Revenue officers coordinate with police and other agencies; if drone imagery or a field visit hints at illicit sowing, a targeted ground inspection follows before any enforcement action is taken.
Officials argue that aerial mapping can quickly expose hard‑to‑reach pockets, enabling a swifter response to potential illegal farms.
Scale of the sowing target
Chhattisgarh has set an ambitious target of sowing kharif crops on 48.69 lakh hectares this season. Satellite‑aided estimates as of 22 September indicated that cultivation had already reached 48.44 lakh hectares.
Rice remains the dominant kharif staple, while maize, kodo, kutki, arhar, moong, groundnut and ramtil also feature prominently across the landscape.
The final round of girdawari in October is expected to lock in the precise area under each crop.
Why precise records matter for farmers
Accurate crop data underpins a host of government schemes—including crop‑insurance payouts, disaster relief, compensation and other farmer‑centric programmes. When the crop type and exact cultivated area are reliably recorded, authorities can pinpoint eligible beneficiaries and channel assistance more efficiently.
By marrying drone technology with traditional field checks, the administration aims to build a robust, transparent crop database that ensures public support reaches the right hands.
“Integrating UAV data with on‑site verification will dramatically reduce mismatches in our crop records and help us act swiftly against illegal cultivation,” said a senior revenue officer.
