This project is aimed at providing actionable, science-driven, timely, information on crop conditions, at the global scale, in support of policies, investments and decisions in food security and agricultural markets through the use of Earth Observations (EO) and building on existing monitoring systems. It was developed in direct response to a request from the G20 Agricultural Market Information system (AMIS), and is focused on providing operational information for the main agricultural production/export countries (Crop Monitor for AMIS) as well as on the countries most vulnerable to food insecurity (Crop Monitor for Early Warning). The Crop Monitor has become an internationally recognized source for reliable global information on crop conditions and prospects. Its reports and assessments have been cited and highlighted in a range of press releases, official reports, and news articles, and have and has received high level of support including from NASA, NOAA, USDA, G20 Chief Agricultural Scientists and Ministry of Agriculture representatives from a wide range of countries. These assessments have already been used to inform policies and decisions including during the recent devastating droughts that impacted southern Africa and left millions in need of humanitarian assistance. Cropmonitor website
Geographic Focus
Global
Principal Investigator
Inbal Becker-Reshef, University of Maryland/ GEOGLAM Secretariat
Project Team
Chris Justice, University of Maryland
Brian Barker, University of Maryland
Eftefania Puricelli, University of Maryland
Christina Justice, University of Maryland
Mike Humber, University of Maryland
Antonio Sanchez, University of Maryland
Catherine Nakalembe, University of Maryland
Ritvik Shajpal, University of Maryland
Joanne Hall, University of Maryland
Eric Vermote, NASA Research Physical Scientist
Alyssa Whitcraft, University of Maryland
Collaborators & Stakeholders
Crop Monitor for AMIS:
Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Asia RiCE, AFSIS, ASEAN Food Security Information System, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Campanhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab), National Institute For Space Research (INPE), Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada | Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada (AAFC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS RADI), EC Joint Research Centre (EC JRC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Lembaga Penerbangan Dan Antariksa Nasional (LAPAN), Ministry of Agriculture Republic of Indonesia (MOA), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera (SIAP), Space Research Institute (IKI), Agricultural Research Council (ARC), South African National Space Agency (SANSA), GeoTerraImage, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center (UHMC), Space Research Institute of NAS of Ukraine and Ukraine DKA (NASU-NSAU), U.S. Geological Survey - Famine Early Warning Systems Network (USGS - FEWS NET), United States Department of Agriculture - National Agricultural Statistics Service, Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA FAS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Center for Global Agricultural Monitoring Research, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland (UMD), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology - Space Technology Institute (VAST STI), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vienna University of Technology Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Remote Sensing Research Group (TU WIEN), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Bolsa de cereals, GMS Satellite-based Agriculture Support System (SASS), JAxa's Satellite based Monitoring Network system for FAO AMIS Market Monitor (JASMIN)
Crop Monitor for Early Warning:
U.S. Geological Survey - Famine Early Warning Systems Network (USGS - FEWS NET), EC Joint Research Centre (EC JRC), United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Asia RiCE, Applied-Geosolutions
Technical Overview
Timely, reliable information on crop conditions, and prospects at national to global scales, is critical for making informed policy and agricultural decisions, formulating trade decisions, and for response preparedness to impending food shortages. The recent volatility in grain markets and increased pressures on agricultural production due to extreme weather events emphasized this need and resulted in a strong international call for improved, open agricultural information. In 2011 the G20 Ministers of Agriculture launched GEOGLAM and AMIS as part of the Action Plan on Price Volatility and Agriculture.
The goal of GEOGLAM is to strengthen the international community’s capacity to produce and disseminate relevant, timely and accurate forecasts of agricultural production at national, regional and global scales through the use of Earth Observations (EO), which include satellite and ground-based observations. The Crop Monitor has become one of the central initiatives under GEOGLAM, providing operational, monthly EO-based consensus assessment of global crop conditions.
Crop Monitor for AMIS:
The Crop Monitor for AMIS is an international multi-source, consensus assessment of the crop growing conditions and production prospects, for the primary global food producers. This activity, covers four primary crops (wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) within the main agricultural producing regions of the AMIS countries. AMIS countries represent the top producing and exporting countries, which are likely to have an impact on global commodity markets. The Crop Monitor for AMIS is a monthly publication geared towards economists and policy makers, providing an outlook on crop conditions. It is published within the AMIS Market Monitor Bulletin AMIS website. Close to 40 national and international partners including ministries of agriculture, research organizations, space agencies and UN organizations contribute to these operational monthly assessments. Partners submit information on crop conditions at a subnational level to a sophisticated web portal with a wide range of EO based datasets and tools. This information is reviewed by all partners and discussed on a monthly telecon, which provides an opportunity for airing any discrepancies. The result is a monthly bulletin, which provides maps, pie charts and textual summaries aimed at policy and economist communities. The primary sources of satellite data for these assessments are vegetation indices, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, temperature, and precipitation derived products, as well as EO based cropland and crop type maps, and crop calendars. This initiative grew rapidly since its launch in 2013, and has become a trusted source of information globally. This is the first time, that scientists and agricultural experts come together on a monthly basis to develop joint, science driven assessments of global crop conditions, based on satellite observations, field data and regional expertise.
Crop Monitor for Early Warning:
The success of the AMIS Crop Monitor led to a request from the Early Warning Community to develop a similar capability. The Crop Monitor for Early Warning was launched in February of 2016 and has been publishing monthly bulletins ever since . It is focused on monitoring and building an international consensus on crop conditions within the countries most vulnerable to food insecurity, and covers the crops that are critical for food security. A range of organizations are concerned with food security in the 'Countries at Risk' and monitor crop growing conditions as part of their early warning activities. They operate at global, regional, national and sub-national scales, and are often confronted with data and information that is less than complete. Typically, these organizations combine direct observations, reports from the field, and indirect methods of satellite remote sensing and environmental modeling. Many of the Countries at Risk are monitored by more than one organization, each with its own combination of available data, tools, information and professional contacts. Given this situation, there is much to be gained by collaboration among the organizations to cross-check their crop condition assessments with one another. The reduction of uncertainty and achievement of consensus achieved through this initiative, is helping to strengthen confidence in decisions to commit resources for mitigation of acute food insecurity and support for resilience and development programs.
The major partners include the main international organizations concerned with food security and already monitor crop conditions as part of their early warning activities as well a few ministries of agriculture. It monitors eleven crops (barley, beans, cassava, groundnut, maize, millet, rice, sorghum, teff, and wheat) throughout the year for both surplus and marginal production agricultural areas. The goal of this activity is to reduce uncertainty and provide actionable information to national, regional and global food security agencies. This information is especially critical in recent years given the extreme weather conditions impacting food supplies. This activity has already proved to be valuable during the 2015-16 El Nino event, when the worst drought in 100 years, affected southern Africa causing widespread crop failure across the region, leaving millions in need of humanitarian assistance. The crop monitor assessments were used by the government in South Africa among others, to make decisions during this crisis.
Additional Information
For more information and to download reports from this project, please see GEOGLAM