Remote sensing for sustainable development

Abstract

The solution to meet the growing demands of the increasing population with limited land resources lies in the adoption of a holistic approach for achieving ecological friendly, sustainable development. Even at the present over 600 million children, women and men are going to bed every day with a hungry stomach. This will increase many fold in the coming decades unless productivity is atleast doubled in many of the developing countries without at the same time affecting the ecological balance of the world. Space remote sensing inputs and the development of biotechnology provide, for the first time, an unique opportunity to reshape our thinking for achieving the objectives of sustainable development and also provide food security even under drought and flood conditions; only then, can we make Isiah's prophesies come true "The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose... The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water."