Research bodies call for slashing CCEs to hasten farm yield estimates

Studies are being done on how number of CCEs could be lowered without compromising on accuracy, credibility

To ensure accurate and timely release of crop production numbers, some state-run agriculture research institutes have mooted a proposal to cut down the number of crop cutting experiments (CCEs) that are undertaken for estimating the yield of each crop, without any compromise on the accuracy of the process.

Studies in this regard are being conducted at various stages which sources said have shown that accurate yield estimation can be done even by reducing the number of CCEs conducted by state agencies for yield estimation from the existing 900,000-one million for each crop at the district level to almost 100,000.

These CCEs will be done at the state levels against the current practice of block or district levels.

“We have worked on various models which show that if we reduce the number of CCEs and do them for the state level, we can cut down on the time taken between advance estimates and final production numbers,” a senior official said.

That apart, the government has also introduced a mobile application and portal through which results of CCEs could be directly uploaded. It could be done through GPS-enabled photo capture and automated field selection.

In India, the government usually releases four advance estimates of food grains and other major crops.

Similarly, advanced estimates are also released for horticulture crops and even livestock production. However, the time taken between the advance estimates and final production numbers is considerable.

Cutting down on the number of mandatory CCEs will ensure that yield estimates come on time. And also, it would make them accurate, leading to generation of firm production numbers. This, in turn, would also assist in timely decision making by the government and other policy makers, experts said.

CCE is a time-tested practice of estimating the yield in which sample locations (farmer fields in this case) are randomly selected from the total area under assessment. And, the crop is harvested from plots of specified size and shape.

The harvest is then studied based on various parameters, such as pod weight, moisture, biomass weight and grain size to arrive at an estimate of the per hectare yield from that selected sample field.

This yield is then extrapolated to arrive at a broad estimate of average yield of that area for that particular crop which was harvested. This average yield is then multiplied with the acreage to arrive at state and national level production estimates.

CCEs are the cornerstone of accurate yield estimation. They are extensively relied upon by crop insurance companies for determining the final claim payout.

Technologies such as geo-spatial satellite mapping and drones are being extensively used to estimate yield of a certain crop over a specified area but CCEs still remain much in demand.

For crop insurance, companies are increasingly relying on technology for accurate yield estimation. However, here too some researchers say the importance of physical CCEs can't be undermined.

In India, CCEs are mostly done by state agriculture departments through ground level officers who have a standard guideline for operation.

Sources said due to the large volume of CCEs that need to be conducted to arrive at the final yields, the final production estimates of several crops take years to come. This leads to difficulty in decision making as the final production numbers undergo a massive revision from the advance estimates.

SAVING TIME

Centre usually releases four advance estimates for foodgrains production

Similarly, production estimates are also released for horticulture crops and livestock

Sometimes, there is variance between advance estimates and final yields

Final yields are based on CCEs done by states

Reducing the number of CCEs could reduce the gap between advance estimates and final yield figures