FASAL concept in meeting the requirements of assessment and forecasting crop production affected by extreme weather events

The research in remote sensing application in India started first in agriculture way back in 1969. With the improvement in satellite sensors, data processing algorithms, models and computational power over time, this research culminated into development of operational projects of CAPE and FASAL, tackling an important issue of operationally providing pre-harvest crop production forecast to stakeholders. This review paper details the sequential developments in the use of remote sensing data for crop production forecasting. The scientific developments in the use of single and multi-temporal optical and microwave satellite images for crop identification and yield estimation in India have been reviewed. The case studies on use of remote sensing data for crop assessment under extreme weather events are also presented. These include the assessment of crop damage due to extreme weather events of floods, drought, and hailstorm Examples on use of remote sensing for crop damage assessment due to pest and diseases and forecasting their incidence using satellite derived weather parameters are reviewed.