The problem
of drought in the changing climate of Poland is increasingly affecting the
local farmers. This season, nearly 4 million hectares of crops fell short of
rainfall. Poland’s Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture is
providing public aid to combat this, however many useful tools that are
currently available for farmers to foresee and act in advance of problems, are
still not used as they should.
Information
from satellites can help in increasing agricultural productivity, despite
difficult conditions
The world
is on the verge of the third modern revolution in agribusiness related to
precision farming. The first revolution caused by the mechanization of
agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century enabled one farmer to create
resources for 26 people. The second - "green" - took place in the 90s
and was associated with obtaining genetically modified plant species resistant
to pests and requiring less water. It resulted in an increase in the number of
people possible for one farmer to 155. Thanks to the third, which is based on
increasing analytical capabilities and the development of new technologies,
each farmer can produce food for 256 people.
Increase
in Power
As
population increase and shrink as a result of climate change, fertile cropland
resources face the challenge of increasing production efficiency per hectare.
This is related to soil type, irrigation, application of fertilization or
atmospheric conditions. Thanks to big data analysis, which provides information
from Earth observation, all these elements can be examined for optimal results.
One of the
largest sources of information about conditions on our planet are pictures from
satellites. They create new technologies, applications and services that
optimize various processes and facilitate human functioning on Earth.
"Every
day, the CREODIAS platform receives a huge amount of valuable information from
satellites orbiting the Earth. Companies and startups interested in using them,
which need high computing power to analyze larger data repositories, can use
our ready cloud infrastructure. This significantly reduces their cost of
entering the market" - says Urszula Mielcarz from CloudFerro, the operator
of DIAS platforms - CREODIAS and WEkEO, sharing satellite imagery implemented
as part of the European Earth observation program Copernicus.
The market
for products and services using information from space is growing dynamically.
As for Europe and the Copernicus program, according to a recent report
(Copernicus Market Report 2018), the use of Earth observation data in
agriculture alone generates over EUR 18 million in revenue annually. And in the
coming years, this value will grow by over 20% annually. This market has huge
development potential and a field for operation also for Polish companies from
the IT sector.
"Applications
using data on precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, fertilization, etc.
are already supporting farmers in managing crops. They can help reduce the use
of pesticides and other fertilizers, plan optimal irrigation or detect plant
diseases. A great example of the possibilities offered by information is the
observation of bee activity. Current data from satellites allows you to plan
spraying so as not to harm insects. There are infinitely many situations in
which the potential of observation from space can be used "- explains
Urszula Mielcarz.
Dutch
global database
Monitoring
of crop condition, soil condition and properties, and mapping of cultivation
activities are key to harvest prediction. Satellite data can also be used to
monitor changes in agricultural and crop production efficiency due to drought.
What's more, satellites enable monitoring of soil degradation trends and a
decrease in land productivity as a result of excessive grazing, improper
irrigation or farming.
In response
to the projected population growth and increasingly demanding growing
conditions, the Dutch organization Waterwatch Cooperative is developing a
global database on weather, water supply and growing conditions. It aims to
help farmers produce food more efficiently, profitably and sustainably. Using a
wide range of sources, including satellite data, the organization wants to
record and analyze crop data for the entire globe.
"Thanks
to our solutions, the farmer will no longer be lonely in making decisions on
which not only his profit depends, but also the situation on local food
markets," says Ad Bastiaansen, the creator of the company. - "Our
application allows you to reduce cases of plant diseases by up to 40 percent
and reduce the use of pesticides by 15 percent. We estimate that by the end of
the year up to one million farmers around the world can use our
application," he adds.
Understanding
the images
Today,
access to data from space is open - for more than a year, anyone with access to
the Internet can enter one of the DIAS platforms, e.g. CREODIAS, generate
information of interest to him and analyze it, from any angle. The biggest
challenge associated with the use of satellite images is the need for
specialists who will deal with their analysis and "translation", or
processing, so that everyone interested can use them. However, the
informational value of space data is priceless and timeless.
Today, over
16 petabytes of data are stored under CREODIAS. For more, please access www.creodias.eu
