High-resolution spatial maps to assess climate-related shocks

Media release

Insurance companies and governments worldwide are increasingly using spatial data to evaluate challenges and damages posed by climate-related shocks.

ICRISAT scientists in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have developed high-resolution spatial maps that enable cropland mapping for insurance claims and agriculture policy decision-making on targeting regenerative agriculture (RA).

Cropping pattern map for 2013-14.
Cropping pattern map for 2013-14.
"Agricultural insurance is becoming one of the fastest-growing markets globally. For farmers to cope with crop loss, stabilizing farm incomes through insurance payoffs can help reduce poverty. Spatial mapping is a quicker and efficient tool for guiding agriculture policy makers to minimize climate risks," said Dr Arvind Kumar, Deputy Director General-Research, ICRISAT.

 

Physical ground surveys are a laborious process and often require an army of surveyors to validate the effects of floods and drought. ICRISAT scientists in collaboration with the ADB developed spatial maps for South Asia to assess croplands, crop type and crop intensity data. South Asia accounts for 1.9 billion people, constituting almost 25% of the world’s population, 87% of which are smallholder farmers.

Insurance companies and government agencies require high-quality satellite imagery to monitor and map floods/droughts and other climatic conditions to make the claims process more accurate and efficient. ​

"In addition to crop insurance, spatial maps can also be used as potential tools to target regenerative agriculture. Crop type mapping can also better guide where and in what systems regenerative agriculture can be deployed," said Dr ML Jat, Research Program Director, Resilient Farm and Food Systems, ICRISAT.
Spatial distribution of crop extent on irrigated and rainfed croplands in South Asia during the kharif (monsoon) season of 2014–15.
Spatial distribution of crop extent on irrigated and rainfed croplands in South Asia during the kharif (monsoon) season of 2014–15. 

Higher resolution:

To this end, ICRISAT scientists have produced three distinct spatial maps for South Asia with a spatial resolution of 30 m, which is much higher to get finer details of cropland for food and water security assessments. Currently, these factors are evaluated using mainly coarse-resolution (250–1000 m) remote sensing data.

“The high spatial resolution data would enable cropland assessment, modelling, mapping, and monitoring for South Asia, which is home to nearly two billion people and 230 million hectares of net cropland area. Subsequently, the data would help generate various development models for accurate monitoring and decision-making for the entire region,” said Murali Krishna Gumma, Principal Scientist and Cluster Leader – Geospatial Sciences and Big Data at ICRISAT.

The team developed three spatial maps for South Asia for the year 2014-15 to support food and water security assessments and management. The three distinct spatial maps would assess irrigated versus rainfed croplands, crop types or crop dominance and cropping intensity i.e., the number of times a crop is grown on the same plot of land in a year.

The Landsat derived irrigated versus rainfed cropland map of South Asia (2014–15).
The Landsat derived irrigated versus rainfed cropland map of South Asia (2014–15).

Header image: Satellite image of South Asia. All maps are generated using Landsat and MODIS.

Read more: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15481603.2022.2088651

This work aligns with SDG 13.
This work aligns with SDG 13.

 

 

 

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About The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a pioneering International Organization committed to developing and improving dryland farming and agri-food systems to address the challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and environmental degradation affecting the 2.1 billion people residing in the drylands of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and beyond.

ICRISAT was established under a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and the CGIAR on the 28 March 1972. In accordance with the Headquarters Agreement, the Government of India has extended the status of a specified “International Organisation” to ICRISAT under section 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 of the Republic of India through Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. UI/222(66)/71, dated 28 October 1972, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

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