Renowned space scientist Prof U R Rao on Saturday made a fervent appeal to the government to accord top priority to tackle food security issues by putting in place sustainable development practices with inputs from remote sensing techniques.

Delivering a lecture on the occasion of Remote Sensing Day celebrations organised by Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Prof Rao said strategic steps need to be taken to improve agriculture productivity failing which it could result in becoming the biggest hurdle for the development of the country.

Remote sensing applications like land use pattern, data on natural resources and water shed mapping combined with precision farming methods using the Geographical Information System could result in bringing about an quantum leap in productivity, he said.

Prof Rao said there was a need for another “green revolution” to meet the needs of the growing population in the country. While the world food production stood at 2.5 tones per hectare, India averaged only 1.6 tone per hectare. A new vision was the need of the hour to meet the challenges of the future, he said.

With nearly 65 per cent of the population engaged in agriculture, higher growth rate in the farming sector would solve a host of socio-economic problems, he added.

He said contract farming was not the answer to increase productivity, but the contract method actually deprived the farmers their benefits.