Jammu, Dec 01: A week-long training programme on Geospatial Applications in Agriculture commenced on Monday at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, under the HADP Project on Soil and Land Resource Information System for planning and soil-health management. The initiative targets capacity building for researchers, extension personnel and scholars in using remote sensing and GIS for precision agriculture, crop surveillance and sustainable natural-resource management.
The inaugural session was chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof B N Tripathi, who stressed the growing role of geospatial tools in transforming farm practices. He noted that mapping soil variability, irrigation planning, pest-disease tracking and climate-smart advisories can help reduce input losses and improve farm productivity.
Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Dr Anil Kumar detailed the use of spatial data in identifying soil characteristics, nutrient profiles, moisture conditions and erosion risk to guide land-use decisions and crop planning. Dr Sushil Sharma, Dean, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, underlined GIS-based climate and risk assessments for drought, flood and variability projections, which support disaster preparedness and crop-insurance planning.
Programme coordinator Prof Vikas Sharma, Head, Division of Soil Science and Principal Investigator of the project, welcomed the participants and outlined the schedule focusing on hands-on skill enhancement. The training blends lectures, demonstrations and field-based exercises covering satellite-data access, image processing, crop-area estimation, soil-moisture evaluation and ground-truthing techniques.
Experts from CRIDA Hyderabad, JK Remote Sensing Centre, ESRI and the university’s geospatial laboratories will conduct the technical sessions. Participants will receive certificates after completion of the course.
Prof Vikas Abrol delivered the vote of thanks, while Prof Vivak M Arya conducted proceedings. The programme aims to bolster professional competence and strengthen support for farm advisory services, research and extension initiatives across the region.
