India: To address the distress afflicting the country’s agricultural sector, India is pushing for a new crop damage insurance scheme.Called the New Crop Insurance Scheme (NCIS), the plan will make use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones to access crop damage figures. According to media reports, the feed sent by drones will be collated with satellite imaging and remote sensing technology to assist insurance companies in adequate disbursals calculated on the basis of actual damage to crops in a particular area. Smartphones and online transmission of data will also be used in cutting down time taken to finalize the yield data. The scheme is expected to be approved by the Cabinet this week.
Source: ToI
