NESAC organized its sixth regular two-week short course on “Applications of Remote Sensing & GIS in Agriculture and Allied Areas” with a focused theme on “Advanced Geospatial Technologies Towards Precision Agriculture” from August 25 to September 5, 2025.The course was attended by 21 participants, including officials from state agriculture and horticulture departments, faculty members from colleges and universities, scientists, subject matter specialists and research scholars.
The course commenced with an inaugural session on 25thAugust, 2025. Smt. Pratibha Thakuria Das, Scientist-SF, Agriculture and Soil Division (ASD) and the Course Director, welcomed the participants and provided an overview of the course schedule. Dr. B.K. Handique, Head, ASD and Programme Planning and Evaluation Group (PPEG), highlighted the role of geospatial technologies in agriculture and allied sectors, while also reflecting on the achievements of the previous five regular courses. Dr. S.P. Aggarwal, Director, NESAC and the Chief Guest, addressed the participants, outlining the legacy of the Indian Space Programme and its contributions to precision agriculture since its inception.
During the period of the course, participants engaged in 18 hours of theory classes, 25 hours of practical sessions and 16 hours for project work. Three invited expert lectures were delivered on specialized themessuch as “Precision Agriculture: Principles and Recent Trends” by Dr. Bipul Deka, Principal Scientist, AAU on 27 August 205; “Geospatial Technologies for Site-Specific Water Management in Precision Agriculture” by Prof. Eswar Rajasekaran, IIT, Bombay on 02 September 2025 and “Geospatial Technologies for Site-Specific Nutrient Management in Precision Agriculture” by Dr. Ayan Das, Scientist-SE, SAC on 03 September 2025. The participants were divided into five groups, each assigned a distinct mini-project addressing critical application areas of precision agriculture using geospatial technologies.
The course concluded with a valedictory program on September 04, 2025, where Dr. S.P. Aggarwal, Director, NESAC, presided as the Chief Guest and distributed the course completion certificates to the participants. The programme ended with a formal vote of thanks delivered by Dr. Pradesh Jena, Course Officer.