Remote Sensing and Cropping Practices: A Review

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. Fil: Bégué, Agnès. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Arvor, Damien. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia Fil: Bellon, Beatriz. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Betbeder, Julie. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia Fil: de Abelleyra, Diego. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Instituto de Clima y Agua; Argentina Fil: Ferraz, Rodrigo P. D.. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; Brasil Fil: Lebourgeois, Valentine. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia Fil: Lelong, Camille. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia Fil: Simões, Margareth. Universidade do Estado de Rio do Janeiro; Brasil. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; Brasil Fil: Verón, Santiago Ramón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina