Assessing the Spatial Distribution of Crop Production Using a Cross-Entropy Method

Assessing the Spatial Distribution of Crop Production Using a Cross-Entropy Method
Author: Liangzhi You and Stanley Wood
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2012
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

While agricultural production statistics are reported on a geopolitical - often national - basis we often need to know the status of production or productivity within specific sub-regions, watersheds, or agro-ecological zones. Such re-aggregations are typically made using expert judgments or simple area-weighting rules. We describe a new, entropy-based approach to making spatially disaggregated assessments of the distribution of crop production. Using this approach tabular crop production statistics are blended judiciously with an array of other secondary data to assess the production of specific crops within individual "pixels" - typically 25 to 100 square kilometers in size. The information utilized includes crop production statistics, farming system characteristics, satellite-derived land cover data, biophysical crop suitability assessments, and population density. An application is presented in which Brazilian state level production statistics are used to generate pixel level crop production data for eight crops. To validate the spatial allocation we aggregated the pixel estimates to obtain synthetic estimates of municipio level production in Brazil, and compared those estimates with actual municipio statistics. The approach produced extremely promising results. We then examined the robustness of these results compared to short-cut approaches to spatializing crop production statistics and showed that, while computationally intensive, the cross-entropy method does provide more reliable estimates of crop production patterns.

International conference on impacts of agricultural research and development: why has impact assessment research not made more of a difference?

International conference on impacts of agricultural research and development: why has impact assessment research not made more of a difference?
Author: David J. Watson
Publisher: CIMMYT
Total Pages: 122
Release:
Genre: Agriculture
ISBN: 9706481044

Proceedings of a conference by the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) of the Interim Science Council, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Economics Program, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), 4-7 February 2002, San José, Costa Rica.

The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security: 2021

The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security: 2021
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2021-03-17
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9251340714

On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. And agriculture continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the damage and loss wrought by disasters. Their growing frequency and intensity, along with the systemic nature of risk, are upending people’s lives, devastating livelihoods, and jeopardizing our entire food system. This report makes a powerful case for investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction – especially data gathering and analysis for evidence informed action – to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving the future we want.

Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources

Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources
Author: Manoj K. Jha
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2020-11-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3039434268

Changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, agriculture, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. The impacts of these changes on water resources range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation of water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). The impacts are manifested through complex hydro-bio-geo-climate characteristics, which underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches to understand the impacts of landscape change on water resources. Several techniques, such as field studies, long-term monitoring, remote sensing technologies, and advanced modeling studies, have contributed to better understanding the modes and mechanisms by which landscape changes impact water resources. Such research studies can help unlock the complex interconnected influences of landscape on water resources in terms of quantity and quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this Special Issue, we published a set of eight peer-reviewed articles elaborating on some of the specific topics of landscape changes and associated impacts on water resources.

China and the EU in Context

China and the EU in Context
Author: Kerry Brown
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2014-03-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1137351861

Brings together the research of world-class commentators on China from across Europe to explore the policy aspects of the China-EU relationship. Aimed at practitioners, this book shows how to relate to China practically and understand its complexities for business purposes, including investment, social unrest, and China's five-year program.