Crop Reporting System

Crop Reporting Service in the Agriculture Department Punjab, through its field survey work, prepares agriculture estimates for Kharif and Rabi crops every year. In the past, only few crops were targeted however, other crops have also been included in the program due to their growing importance. The crops are categorized into Major and Minor crops: 5 major and 40 minor crops, both having different varieties. The Crop Estimates are sent to the Federal Government for final publication, after subsequent approval from the Punjab Agricultural Statistics Coordination Board. The field reports of Agriculture Department, prepared by the field staff appointed in the selected villages, are given due importance for the Crop Estimation Work.

The Crop Estimations in the application are calculated through Acreage and Yield estimations which are further categorized to below mentioned forms:

I. ACREAGE SURVEY:
Acreage survey is the first module of the application and acts as a survey for gathering information regarding a village. The purpose of the survey is to calculate the total area of land with crops of both, Rabi and Kharif seasons in the Punjab Province. The survey is conducted a total of four times annually, two times in the Rabi season and two times in Kharif.

II. SPECTRAL SIGNATURE COLLECTION:
Spectral Signature Collection is similar to acreage survey except that it provides with detailed information regarding a specific area of land which is further classified into blocks (predefined). The information about the crops grown in blocks is also noted along with its characteristics.

III. VILLAGE BOUNDARY DEMARCATION:
This is a onetime activity that will be performed by the CR’s to input data of selected sample village boundaries to mark where the villages exist and the total area covered by the villages. The villages are then marked onto maps along with their boundaries to show their area covered.

IV. GROWER OPINION SURVEY:
The survey is conducted to input data such as farmer’s information, area cultivated in current and last year and crop types from the grower/farmer of a land under survey. It is also noted why the farmer chose to grow the particular crops and what techniques he prefers to grow them.

V. COST OF PRODUCTION:
The cost of production modules provides an overview of the total costs used by the farmers in order to grow their crops. The survey questionnaire covers all operations starting from pre-sowing to harvesting and marketing of the produce. On the basis of survey results, crop reporting services prepares working paper on relevant crops regarding estimates of cost of production.

VI. COTTON PLANT MAPPING:
Crop reporting service, Punjab has been keeping close watch on the crop situation throughout the crop season as cotton is a major cash crop of Pakistan. Crop reporters visit the fields time to time and observe the crop situation in the randomly selected sample villages in the Punjab. It is important to monitor the growth of cotton from the time of sowing till harvesting of the crop to check for any attacks from pests and the conditions suitable for its growth.

VII. YIELD ESTIMATION SURVEY:
Yield estimation is the last and the most important module of the application. It comprises of all the possible and necessary information of land as well as the crop cultivated on the land. The yield is worked out for the entire village, based on these village sample. The village data is cumulated at district level and used to emulate yield for the whole district. The final estimate of production is worked out by using yield from the CRS and area data from revenue department.