Abstract
For agronomic, environmental, and economic reasons, the need for spatialized information about agricultural practices is expected to rapidly increase. In this context, we reviewed the literature on remote sensing for mapping cropping practices. The reviewed studies were grouped into three categories of practices: crop succession (crop rotation and fallowing), cropping pattern (single tree crop planting pattern, sequential cropping, and intercropping/agroforestry), and cropping techniques (irrigation, soil tillage, harvest and post-harvest practices, crop varieties, and agro-ecological infrastructures). We observed that the majority of the studies were exploratory investigations, tested on a local scale with a high dependence on ground data, and used only one type of remote sensing sensor. Furthermore, to be correctly implemented, most of the methods relied heavily on local knowledge on the management practices, the environment, and the biological material. These limitations point to future research directions, such as the use of land stratification, multi-sensor data combination, and expert knowledge-driven methods. Finally, the new spatial technologies, and particularly the Sentinel constellation, are expected to improve the monitoring of cropping practices in the challenging context of food security and better management of agro-environmental issues.
Highlights
In terms of productivity, use of natural resources, and farmer income, the importance of cropping practices has long been recognized by the international community, who defined the concept and guidelines of good agricultural practices (GAP) under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidance [1]
A cropping system refers to the crop type, sequence, and arrangement, and to the management techniques used on a particular field over a period of years [7,8]
Delenne et al [39] showed that simple local Fourier analysis and co-occurrence matrix-based indices, applied to very high spatial resolution images acquired with an UtraLight Aircrafts (ULA), detected vineyards and characterized intra-field cropping patterns, and rows and inter-row orientation and scale
Summary
Use of natural resources, and farmer income, the importance of cropping practices has long been recognized by the international community, who defined the concept and guidelines of good agricultural practices (GAP) under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidance [1]. The GAP aim at producing safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products, while managing and enhancing environmental habitats. For this purpose, the guidelines encourage improved water and soil management, crop and fodder production, pest and disease control, and energy and waste management, at the farm scale. We reviewed the literature on remote sensing data and the methods used to produce spatial information on cropping practices. We present a typology of the main cropping practices with their definitions, since agronomic-related vocabulary sometimes lacks precision in the remote sensing literature. We synthesize its agronomic, environmental, and socio-economic benefits, and review remote sensing-based studies used to detect and characterize these benefits. We recommend future research for the use of the new generation of Earth-observation systems for large scale applications
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