Improving rice production with Paddy Watch

Rice is one of the most strategic commodities in the world. It is closely connected with food security, economic growth, employment, culture and regional peace. Although the world has made significant progress to improve rice production, countries where rice is a staple food still have no accurate way of knowing how much rice has been grown and how many tonnes can be harvested. 

Google Earth, Group on Earth Observations, the University of Sydney, and University Malaya Trengganu in Malaysia, have been working together to develop a groundbreaking new technology that will help to develop the first real-time monitoring platform for rice fields. The platform, named Paddy Watch, will use Google Earth Engine (GEE) to detect how much rice is grown, predict rice yield, inform water use and make decisions that will help countries reach the Zero Hunger target of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

In 2020, Paddy Watch was awarded grant funding and a two year support package through the GEO-GEE program run by Google Earth Engine, GEO and EO Data Science.The EO Data Science team is providing $1 million in essential Google Earth Engine (GEE) training, support and billing capabilities to the Paddy Watch team. 

Improving rice yields globally  

Paddy Watch will be the first high resolution near-real-time global rice field monitoring platform. Using GEE and radar imagery, Paddy Watch will provide accurate and up-to-date information to farmers and agricultural extension officers on how much rice has been planted and how much harvest can be achieved. This information is crucial to achieving global food and water security. 

Scientists can use this information to develop research strategies that build healthy soils and increase yield in different environments. Further, teachers and lecturers can use these online resources to educate future generations about food production and the environment. Lastly, policymakers can use the maps to formulate data-driven policies and decisions around food security to boost local economic growth.
 

EO Data Science's role in the GEO-GEE program

EO Data Science partnered with Google Earth Engine and the Group on Earth Observations to launch the GEO-GEE Program in July 2020. 32 projects across 22 countries were selected for the program which offers $3 million USD towards product licenses and $1 million USD in technical support from EO Data Science to help operationalise their science as they strive to tackle the world’s biggest sustainable development challenges. So far EO Data Science has: