Harvest leadership presents on importance of EO data for Ag
Three NASA Harvest representatives - Dr. Chris Justice (Harvest Chief Scientist), Brian Barker (Crop Monitor for AMIS Coordinator), and Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef (Harvest Program Director) - participated last week at the AMIS Information Group Meeting hosted by the World Trade Organization, and the Global Grain Geneva Conference (November 12-15). Becker-Reshef spoke in both events about NASA Harvest and GEOGLAM’s work, emphasizing the importance of satellite data for informing agricultural decisions. She noted that Harvest has over 40 partners from the private, public and academic sectors, including many partners working both domestically and internationally.
Describing a recent report by the Crop Monitor Coordination Team of the GEOGLAM Secretariat for the monthly AMIS Market Monitor, "Untapping the potential for wider use of Earth Observation in monitoring agriculture production", Becker-Reshef pointed out that current satellite data and information technologies are increasingly offering cost-effective and timely information on crop type and health, growth stage, and productivity from the field to global scales. Satellite technologies are therefore playing an increasingly central role across the agricultural sector. The Harvest Consortium has worked on improving production forecasting methods, while advancing communications and technology transfer, all important aspects of furthering the use of satellite data by the agriculture monitoring community.
The Global Grain Geneva conference is one of the largest annual meetings in Europe for the grain trade, attracting over 1,100 attendees every year, including millers, feed companies, traders and producers, as well as the finance, shipping, legal and technology specialists who support them. Harvest members attended to both present about the use of satellite technologies for monitoring grains, and to connect with producers and other members of the global market chain who are interested in the value of remote sensing technologies.