Design of crop cutting experiments with satellite data for crop yield estimation in irrigated command areas

Abstract

This paper highlights the limitations with existing procedures in crop yield estimation through Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) and demonstrates the usefulness of remote sensing data, to‐improve the sampling design of CCE in irrigated command areas. The nearreal time information on crop area and crop condition derived from IRS data is successfully employed in the sampling design. The experimental plots selected by the new sampling design represent the population in a better way as it gives proportional weightage to differential crop condition which is directly related to yield. The new sampling design has been developed and validated in Bhadra project command area, Karnataka state, India to estimate the average yield of paddy crop during rabi 1992–93. The implementation of new methodology on operational basis, in irrigated command areas has also been discussed.