IRRI scientists publish article on using satellites to map a wide range of rice environments in Asia

Providing accurate, timely, and detailed information on staple crops like rice is the basis for food security policies. This is especially important in Asia where rapid changes in rice sector policies, market preferences, land use, water availability, and climate are occurring simultaneously.  Since 2012, IRRI has been collaborating with partners in Europe and Asia on the RIICE (Remote Sensing based Information and Insurance for crops in Emerging economies) project to build in-country capacity to use satellite information for rice crop monitoring in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In November, IRRI scientists Dr. Andrew Nelson, Dr. Tri Setiyono and colleagues published the first major scientific output from RIICE, Towards an Operational SAR-Based Rice Monitoring System in Asia: Examples from 13 Demonstration Sites across Asia in the RIICE Project. The study is the largest of its kind and was conducted in collaboration with Sarmap, Philippine Rice Research Institute, ICALRD (Indonesia), TNAU (India), GISTDA (Thailand), TRD (Thailand), Can Tho University (Vietnam), IMHEN (Vietnam), CARDI (Cambodia), GIZ-India, SDC-Cambodia and SDC-Vietnam. The article focuses on the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery which is highly suitable for detecting lowland rice, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, where pervasive cloud cover in the rainy seasons prevents the use of optical imagery. Hence, the study shows how a simple, robust, and rule-based classification algorithm can be used to map rice areas using regularly acquired, multi-temporal SAR imagery across a wide range of rice environments in Asia.

The paper presents rice monitoring results from 13 study sites across six countries. Project partners conducted more than 1,900 in-season site visits across 228 monitoring locations in the study sites and a further 1,300 field observations were made for accuracy assessment. Some 1.6 million hectares of rice areas were mapped with classification accuracy at field level between 85% and 95%.
The article recommends that the time is right for the development of national scale rice crop observation systems using this technology.  New satellite platforms such as Sentinel-1, ALOS-PALSAR-2 and RISAT-1 can provide free or low cost imagery over Asia which can be analyzed using RIICE technologies to provide monthly information on rice area, planting dates, yield estimates, and the impact of calamities like tropical storms and drought.   Such information would support governments in planning and policymaking, and other stakeholders such as crop insurance or disaster response units. It will also help IRRI and other research partners in better understanding current and future trends in rice production for better targeted research.

Better information for food security in a changing climate is essential as highlighted recently by the UN:

“Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability. Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes almost impossible.” A World that Counts – UN Data Revolution, November 2014  

IRRI—through RIICE Phase II (2015-2018)—is committed to working with national partners to ensure that the capacity to use this technology is developed in-country. The aim is to provide governments and other stakeholders with national scale information on the rice crop that will ultimately benefit both rice producers and consumers.  RIICE Phase I has been supported by SDC and the Global Rice Science Partnership.

View publication | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/11/10773
Read more about the RIICE project |  http://www.riice.org

~
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)
Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development (ICALRD)
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)
Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA)
Thailand Rice Department (TRD)
Can Tho University (CTU)
Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment (IMHEN)
Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

Science and policy snippets from IRC2014 (October 31)

by the IRRI communication team

~

Genes bearing marks from the environment

Prof. John Colbourne of the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, gave a plenary talk at IRC2014 on environmental genomics. He discussed genetic mechanisms related to organisms' responses to environmental conditions.

Colbourne shared selected results of his work with freshwater crustacean Daphnia, in applying genomics to determine how the effects of their environment are “encoded” in their genes.  Rapid technological improvements to access this “memory” of populations promises to transform how the health of the environment is monitored and protected.

Better understanding of the genetic repertoire of a species and its interaction with the environment can help decision makers develop sound policies for environmental protection and in other areas, such as health, medicine, food security, energy, waste management, and natural resource conservation.

~ 

Drip irrigation and direct seeding – a sound technology mix

Puddling or wet tillage, defined as the mixing of soil and water in a rice culture, has traditionally been the method of preparing rice fields before transplanting. This practice, which accounts for up to 30 percent of the production cost of rice, effectively controls weeds and enhances soil nutrient availability.

But in a workshop entitled New Paradigms of Growing Rice to Address Emerging Shortages of Water and Labor at IRC2014, J.K. Ladha cited that cultivation systems are now shifting to direct seeded rice (DSR) or no tillage farming. This shift gives scope to drip irrigation as a viable water management option.

In his experiment conducted in Punjab, India, Dr. P. Soman said drip irrigation in DSR conserved irrigation water and reduced energy use for pumping water by up to 60 percent and 52 percent, respectively. Coupled with fertigation (fertilizer application through the irrigation system), rice yield increased by 20 percent as more tillers per hill and more grains per panicle were produced. Similar observations were shared by Dr. Palanisami in his field trials in Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Rakesh Sharda asserted that drip irrigation is beneficial especially in the case of Punjab where ground water is overexploited. Through drip irrigation, 25% of the water table can be saved.

While field research has shown good results, Soman proposed potential research interests, which include identification of rice varieties most suitable for the drip-fertigation method, multi-location trials to cover different rice growing conditions, and standardization of fertigation schedules for high productivity.

~

Accuracy in satellite maps aid in policymaking

Remote-sensing technology provides in-season crop information to policymakers and researchers in the form of “rice maps”. These maps can aid in decision making and policy formulation.

Maps generated through this technology indicate areas where rice is grown, number of crop seasons, and methods of cultivation. Unlike “traditional” image-based satellite maps that are not able to penetrate through clouds, remote sensing imagery is radar-based, can penetrate through clouds, and is hence available regardless of weather conditions.

Presenters from Europe, Africa and Asia discussed the state of the art of remote sensing technology at the scientific sessions of IRC2014. The following topics were presented: 1) Remote sensing for food security, by David Kaatrud; 2) Operational crop monitoring and yield forecast base on Earth observation satellites, by Anond Snidvongs; 3) Asian rice crop mapping for G20 GEO-GLAM, by S. Takashima; 4) Remote sensing and crop model application for rice yield monitoring, by Tri Setiyono; 5) Remote sensing-based infromation and insurance for crops in emerging economies, by Francesco Holecz; 6) An automatic approach to analyze optical satellite imagery time series for rice monitoring and status assessment: applications in yield estimation in Senegal and rapid assessment of typhoon damages in Philippines, by Marco Boschetti; and 7) Mapping rice and rice growing environments in West Africa using remote sensing and spatial modelling tools, by Sander Zwart.

~

Around 1,500 participants from 69 countries are attending the 4th International Rice Congress, or IRC2014, at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC).

IRC2014 is being held under the patronage of the Royal Government of Thailand, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and is touted as the “Olympics of rice science,” being the largest gathering of rice science and industry held every four years. 

For more information: ricecongress.com 

Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).