Case study

Rezatec (Mexico) Crop Management

Crop Observation, Management & Production Analysis Services System in Mexico

Image of sugar cane field in Mexico.

Sugar cane fields in Colima, Mexico.

Project Title

Mexican Crop Observation, Management & Production Analysis Services System (Mexican COMPASS)

Target Country

Mexico

Project Lead

Rezatec Ltd

Project consortium

Booker Tate Ltd, The University of Nottingham

International Partners

The International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS)

Project Summary

Rezatec and the University of Nottingham in the UK, supported by Booker Tate, are working with CIMMYT and COLPOS in Mexico to help smallholder farmers growing sugar cane and wheat to improve crop management. Mexican farmers need to improve crop productivity and stabilise their incomes to facilitate rural community economic development. The technology developed by the project will use earth observation satellite data (including data from Sentinel) along with in-situ data captured with the farmers to help them identify factors that cause the yield gap between crop potential and actual field performance.

The project will provide decision support tools to help growers, including smallholders, improve their technical, environmental and financial performance. The project will also provide commercial information support, following trials, to advisory services, agribusiness, farmer co-operatives, crop insurers and governments to create a long-term income stream to support Rezatec’s provision of these services.

Objectives

  • Help wheat and sugar cane farmers in Mexico improve their crop management so that their incomes and income stability is improved to support rural development
  • Help the wider wheat and sugar cane industry, crop insurers and government agencies access improved information so that they can help develop the industry and facilitate investment
  • Develop and deploy a commercial decision support tool for wheat and sugar cane farmers and the wider industry in Mexico using space data to help deliver more detailed, more timely and more cost effective information to support management decision making
Published 26 January 2017