FASAL programme helps generate crop output estimates for 11 crops in 557 districts
The FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land-based observations) programme by the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) helps in generating satellite-based pre-harvest crop production estimates for 11 major crops in 557 districts of 20 states, according to the Centre.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Ramnath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said MNCFC’s FASAL generates satellite-based pre-harvest crop production estimates for paddy, wheat, jute, cotton, sugarcane, soybean, tur, gram, mustard, lentil and rabi sorghum.
The coverage of FASAL includes 557 districts in 20 states. They are: Andhra Pradesh (26), Assam (33), Bihar (38), Chhattisgarh (33), Gujarat (29), Haryana (22), Himachal Pradesh (7), Jharkhand (24), Karnataka (22), Kerala (2), Madhya Pradesh (52), Maharashtra (29), Odisha (30), Punjab (22), Rajasthan (32), Tamil Nadu (21), Telangana (32), Uttar Pradesh (75), Uttarakhand (7), and West Bengal (21).
Multispectral and microwave satellite data are used for crop mapping, and satellite-based indices along with weather data are utilised for crop yield estimation through weather-based and remote sensing models.
He said the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, along with MNCFC, is collaborating with ISRO for generation of operational crop yield estimates based on semi-physical model.
ISRO centres also support in research and development activities for inclusion of new crops for assessment. The State agriculture departments are providing support for collection of ground data required for training the model for crop mapping purpose under FASAL programme.
Drought damage
To a separate query, Thakur said around 1.06 lakh hectares (lh) of crop area in Andhra Pradesh suffered damage during kharif 2024-25 due to drought, followed by 1.28 lh in rabi 2024-25. Giving details for kharif 2023-24, he said around 45.56 lh of crop area suffered damage due to drought in Karnataka, 24.75 lh in Maharashtra, and 6.36 lh in Andhra Pradesh.
Quoting the latest published Land Use Statistics 2023-24, he said the percentage share of net irrigated area to net sown area is 59.3 per cent in the country.
Milk price for farmers
To a question on milk price in the country, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said that the average price of milk has not fallen in the past five years and it has been continuously increasing.
Citing the statistics provided by milk unions and milk federations, he said the average procurement price of buffalo milk (fat 6 per cent and SNF 9 per cent), which was at ₹39.9 a litre 2021-22, increased to ₹49.2 a litre in 2024-25. The average procurement price of cow milk (fat 3.5 per cent and SNF 8.5 per cent) increased from ₹29.4 a litre in 2021-22 to ₹36.7 a litre in 2024-25.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying does not regulate the milk prices in the country. Milk prices are decided by the cooperative and private dairies based on their cost of production and market forces, he added.
Published on December 2, 2025
