ABSTRACT
Agricultural food production is an essential component of societal well-being. The risk of food supply disruptions will continue to grow as our agricultural systems and the land that sustains us continue to respond to the pressures of climate change, energy needs, and population increase. Accurate, objective, reliable, and timely predictions of crop yield over large areas are critical for national food security as they can support policy making on import/ export plans and prices (Li et al. 2007b). A number of global trends suggest an urgent need for a comprehensive, systematic, and accurate global agricultural monitoring system (Brown 2005). More frequent extreme climate events such as floods, drought, and frosts are adversely affecting agricultural production worldwide. Changes in precipitation amount, seasonality, intensity, and distribution impact rain-fed agriculture. Further adaptation of agricultural systems to a changing climate can be expected (FAO 2007). The increase in global population,
CONTENTS
17.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 315 17.1.1 Early Warning ........................................................................................................ 316 17.1.2 Crop Production Monitoring ............................................................................... 316 17.1.3 Agricultural Sustainability ................................................................................... 316
17.2 Advances in Methodology ............................................................................................... 317 17.2.1 Crop Condition Monitoring ................................................................................. 317 17.2.2 Agricultural Drought Monitoring ....................................................................... 318 17.2.3 Crop Acreage Estimation ...................................................................................... 318 17.2.4 Crop Yield Estimation ........................................................................................... 319 17.2.5 Crop Phenophase Monitoring .............................................................................. 319
17.3 Global and National Operational Systems ..................................................................... 320 17.3.1 CropWatch .............................................................................................................. 320 17.3.2 Global Information and Early Warning System ................................................ 323 17.3.3 USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service ................................................................... 323 17.3.4 Monitoring Agricultural Resources .................................................................... 324 17.3.5 National Systems.................................................................................................... 325 17.3.6 Comments on Crop Monitoring Systems ........................................................... 326
17.4 Next Steps in Crop Monitoring ........................................................................................ 328 References ..................................................................................................................................... 328
changes in cropland extent, and the draw-down rate of aquifers are also placing more pressure on food security.
