Coimbatore: Scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines , have agreed to collaborate on ways and technologies to promote precision agriculture.Precision agriculture is believed to be cultivate the exact right kind of crop, know the exact extent of irrigation and fertilizer required, thus doubling the output.While TNAU has agreed to provide a lot of data, IRRI has agreed to provide its technological expertise.TNAU and IRRI scientists met last week and decided to collaborate on research projects, share data and technology on remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). “Based on the advice of our vice-chancellor N Kumar, we will be collaborating on four initiatives,” Dr S Pazhanivelan, head of remote sensing and GIS at TNAU, said.One of the initiatives is adopting an IRRI developed crop growth model for rice, called Oryza.“IRRI has developed a software called Oryza which can simulate the growth and development of 18 varieties of rice. We plan to integrate our remote sensing technology and data with Oryza,” Dr Pazhanivelan said. “We can also use Oryza when we do yield estimation based on the crop monitoring we do with remote sensing and GIS,” he added.Like Oryza, there is a software in the market to simulate growth and development for maize. “But we are looking to collaborate with IRRI and develop such crop growth models for other crops,” said Dr Pazhanivelan.“Using these models and getting a yield estimate, will also help in our damage assessment during natural disasters. Our assessment is what get relief sanctions and crop insurance sanctions,” he said.TNAU on its part will share its data on characteristics and profiles of soil.

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