Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Fruit Industry

Abstract

The fruit industry provides several benefits. In India, its operation can result in nutritional security, employment, livelihood, and ecological security. Fruit orchards are spread across the country in varied terrains and geographic environments. These orchards need specialized care and management for sustainable growth and development. Remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) are new-edge technologies that facilitate in gathering and updating information to develop scientific management plans. Both these technologies are multifunctional. RS and GIS can classify crops, determine crop area and acreage, perform crop canopy measurements, calculate crop yield, analyze plant health, as well as involve in input management (nutrient and water). In addition to these applications, RS and GIS techniques are being increasingly applied to meet various other challenges such as better accurate yield models, identifying ways and means of reducing cost, time gap in collection, interpretation, and dissemination of data, gather conclusive evidence to establish its utility, and concentrate on human resource development to apply the process on large scale. Despite not having met its full potential to confront all its challenges, RS and GIS have remarkable scope for sustainable production of horticulture crops.