The National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation presented a map of crops for the winter agricultural season 2023-2024.
Chairperson of NARSS, Islam Abu El-Majd, stated that each governorate used remote sensing data and artificial intelligence to inventory and classify crops for the winter season 2023-2024 and the summer season 2024.
According to Abu El-Majd, NARSS, on behalf of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture the inventory and classification of some strategic crops in Egypt using remote sensing and artificial intelligence techniques.
He explained that using remote sensing data to inventory wheat, clover, and sugar beet crops clarifies the precise spatial distribution of changes in crop areas. It also allows for the monitoring of different crops’ growth status during the agricultural season using vegetative indicators, allowing for the determination of the type of crop by integrating various factors.
For his part, Abdel Aziz Bilal, Head of the Agricultural Applications Division at the Authority and the project’s principal researcher, indicated that the project contributed to obtaining a geographic database and digital and paper maps of field verification points for the winter season of wheat, clover, and sugar beet crops in the governorates.
The Head of the Agricultural Applications Division and member of the project’s leadership committee, Mohamed Abu Al-Ghar, emphasized the crucial role that remote sensing technologies, bolstered by artificial intelligence tools, play in the periodic and accurate monitoring of crops throughout the Republic.
These technologies aid in determining basic needs, estimating the reserves of strategic crops, and formulating policies to manage local trading and import or export of crops. These applications also aid in the development of future visions based on scientific principles, identifying the preferred areas for the establishment of industries based on agricultural products.
In a related context, NARSS cooperated with the General Authority for Reconstruction Projects and Agricultural Development to produce soil maps, production capacity, and soil suitability for crop structures.
Bilal stated that researchers studied the natural and land resources in Egyptian territory, focusing through a series of projects on inventorying, classifying, and evaluating roughly 2.5 million acres across the republic.
