India’s agricultural research sector is witnessing a transformative shift with the integration of cutting-edge technologies like Earth Observation National Agriculture Market (EO-NAM) and the adoption of data feminism principles, which together promise to revolutionize how agricultural data is collected, analyzed, and used for equitable outcomes.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), in collaboration with ISRO and leading universities, has launched an advanced EO-NAM platform to provide satellite-based real-time insights on crop acreage, health, soil moisture, and weather patterns. By overlaying this data with market trends from e-NAM, policymakers and farmers can make more informed decisions on crop selection, sowing, irrigation, and marketing strategies.
“EO-NAM is a game changer for Indian agriculture,” said Dr. Ritu Agrawal, Director of Remote Sensing Applications at ICAR. “We are now able to track every hectare with unprecedented accuracy and transparency, helping us predict pest outbreaks, assess drought impact, and monitor yield forecasts at the village level.”
What sets this initiative apart is its integration with data feminism — an emerging approach that emphasizes inclusivity, equity, and sensitivity to gender dynamics in data collection and interpretation. By applying data feminism principles, EO-NAM ensures that marginalized groups, especially women farmers and smallholders, are represented fairly in agricultural datasets and receive timely, tailored advisories.
“Women contribute significantly to agriculture, yet their needs are often overlooked in data systems,” explained Dr. Kavita Rao, a data feminist researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Economics. “Through data feminism, we’re challenging biases in agricultural research by ensuring datasets capture the realities of diverse farmers, including women, landless laborers, and indigenous communities.”
Experts believe the combined power of EO-NAM’s high-resolution imagery and data feminism’s inclusive frameworks will lead to more effective, socially responsive agricultural policies. For example, localized satellite insights can now be used to design insurance products specifically suited to the vulnerabilities of women farmers, who are more affected by crop failures and price volatility.
Farmers’ groups have welcomed the development. “Earlier advisories were generic and often missed the issues we face on the ground,” said Shanti Devi, a smallholder farmer from Madhya Pradesh. “If this system gives us real-time updates and understands our specific challenges, it can make a big difference.”
The government is also working to integrate EO-NAM data into mobile apps and call centers to reach farmers with region-specific information in their local languages. Plans are underway to train agricultural extension workers to use EO-NAM dashboards, ensuring last-mile connectivity of insights.
With India aiming to double farmers’ incomes and build climate-resilient agriculture, the convergence of EO-NAM technology and data feminism is being hailed as a crucial step towards an equitable, knowledge-driven rural economy.
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