Officials of the agriculture department in Bihar's Bhojpur district were in for a shock on Monday, when a few pieces of farmland were shown to be situated in the Indian Ocean in a mobile app containing information about crop survey.
The district agriculture officer, however, clarified that the problem was caused by a technical glitch in the smartphones of a few personnel involved in a state-wide digital crop survey (DCS).
“During the recent exercise in the Jangal Mahal panchayat in Jagdishpur block of the district, data of farmland in the DCS app showed certain plots of the area some 6,500 km away in the Indian Ocean. Later, it was found that a glitch in the settings of the mobile phones caused the error. It was immediately resolved after updating the settings of the phones,” District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Bhojpur, Shatrughan Shahu, told PTI on Monday.
The digital crop survey was conducted to establish a clear picture of crops sown in all districts in the state during different agriculture seasons.
So far, crop details of 1.15 lakh agricultural plots have been surveyed, with more than 300 officials engaged in carrying out the exercise, Mr Shahu said.
The database would help the state agriculture department to get comprehensive information about the nature of crops sown in different seasons at the micro level, officials said.
“The data will also help in marketing the agricultural produce as well as in providing crop insurance to farmers in case of any calamity like flood or drought. Besides, it would aid in implementing and framing new policies,” another official of the department said.
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