The “Tele-training on operational modeling of wheat growth and its yield estimate” started this morning. It is organized within the framework of the AfriCultuReS and GMES-Africa projects by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, in partnership with the relevant Tunisian institutions, namely the CNCT (National Center for Mapping and Remote Sensing) - ONAGRI (National Observatory of Agriculture) and INRGREF (National Institute for Research in Rural Engineering, Water and Forests). This tele-training takes place on the OSS video-conference platform from 20 to 22 April 2020 and is live broadcast on the OSS Facebook page.
Since the beginning of the COVID crisis, the OSS has adapted its mode of operation and continues, online, the implementation of the activities, workshops and training initially planned, thanks to the mobilization of its teams and its partners.
The virtual workshop aims to build the capacities of the technical staff of the Tunisian institutions working in the fields of agriculture, agricultural research and remote sensing on:
- Operational modeling of crop growth.
- Qualitative monitoring of crop growth conditions.
- Estimating and forecasting agricultural yields.
During the three-day training, emphasis will be placed on the specific case of wheat; its cultivation and yield will be modeled according to the specific Tunisian context.
Approximately fifty people participate in the virtual workshop, mainly the members of the team in charge of implementing the AfriCultuReS project at the national level as well as the project partners in Tunisia. These are representatives of the following national or regional institutions:
- National Center for Mapping and Remote Sensing (CNCT).
- National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI).
- National Institute for Research in Rural Engineering, Water and Forests (INRGREF).
- General Directorate of Studies and Agricultural Development (DGEDA).
- National Institute of Field Crops (INGC).
- Ministry of Agriculture and its technical departments, including CRDAs.
- Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS).
A workshop kit containing the documents and working tools, as well as a participant's guide, specially developed to explain the course of the workshop and facilitate the use of the platform (BlueJeans) was made available to participants.
It is worth noting that this workshop will also be an opportunity for the participants to see the first version of the land use map of Tunisia developed within the framework of the project, and to collect their comments with a view to improving it. The map will in fact serve as the basis for numerous operational applications, including in particular the estimates of cereal crop yields.
The AfriCultuReS Project - Enhancing Food Security in AFRIcan AgriCULTUral Systems with the Support of REmote Sensing - is a European research project which aims to develop an integrated surveillance and early warning system based on Earth Observation (EO) technologies and products, to support decision-making in the fields of agriculture and food security in Africa. AfriCultuReS is funded by the European Union (H2020) and implemented by a consortium of 17 African European organizations universities.