Comprehensive and advanced crop monitoring system for Morocco (CGMS-MAROC): the transfer and adaptation of Europe Crop Monitoring system CGMS led to the development of an advanced crop monitoring and yield forecasting system for Morocco (www.cgms-maroc.ma):
The European Commission had carried out already the crop yield forecasting in the Maghreb region in their MARS operation before E-AGRI. However original system performed poorly in the North African region.
E-AGRI project conducted key adaptation on calibration and parameterization of the system especially on the parameters related to the cropping calendar and the soil water balance, with much forecasting improvement. These findings and adaptations have already been included European MARS operation.
The BioMA platform is a multi-model approach to simulate crop growth and subsequently crop yield prediction. The innovative aspect of this multi-model approach is its capacity to incorporate and simulate several yield impact drivers such as diseases or climate change at same time. The rice yield forecasting using BioMA platform in Jiangsu, China is the first reported case for multi-model approach for crop growth simulation.
E-AGRI project contains also a component of crop growth monitoring using earth observation information. The bio-physical variables derived from satellite imagery are particularly apt to provide highly accurate yield estimates for Morocco and Huaibei plain in China, especially in the early growth season. This approach shows further application potential in the domains of agricultural insurance, food security early warning, or climate change on agricultural productivity.
