Agricultural Monitoring: An Automatic Procedure for Crop Yield Forecasting in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya

Abstract

Agricultural activities conducted in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, show a significant decline of productivity levels. This phenomenon is mainly related to the limited water resources availability, the lack of supporting irrigation and the harvesting techniques ineffectiveness. The production risks reduction is closely related with a better use of water resources and a better understanding of the effects resulting from the multiple interactions between climate, agricultural vegetation, soil type and crops management techniques. In this study, a remote and automatic agricultural monitoring system is presented as an effective alternative to the most traditional in situ measurements and observations.