Case Study: Sparc India and ORSAC help Odisha reduce fraudulent paddy claims with Planet satellite data

How Odisha Mitigates Food Insecurity and Prevents Inflated Claims Through Satellite Data and Crop Analysis

Sparc India, a technology service company specializing in GeoICT solutions, faced the challenge of helping the Odisha government verify paddy crop cultivation claims from over 1.5 million farmers. Self-reporting had led to widespread inflated claims and wrongful allocation of public funds, threatening food security and wasting millions. Working with the Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC), they partnered with vendor Planet to use its high-resolution satellite imagery, including PlanetScope data, to gain real-time visibility and authenticate field data.

The solution implemented by Planet involved using daily satellite imagery analyzed with AI and machine learning to identify paddy crops at the individual farmland level and flag misreported plots. This process enabled field verification and the disqualification of false claims. The results were substantial, with Planet's data helping to identify 865,000 metric tons of fraudulently reported paddy, leading to government net savings of INR 1,700 crores (USD 206 million). Additionally, participation from small and medium farmers increased significantly, improving the program's effectiveness and equity.

Sparc India

Manoj Mishra

Chief Executive