Chile has a robust agricultural sector and is one of the top ten global suppliers of farm products. Main export products include avocados, prunes, table grapes and many more.
Meanwhile, the industry in the country faces several serious challenges. The main one today is the crisis associated with water shortages. Thus, the productivity and sustainability of agriculture is threatened. The Chilean government and agricultural authorities are formulating new policies to mitigate the impact of this crisis and ensure the sector’s future sustainability.
The Chilean government declared an agricultural emergency because of an ongoing drought in 2019. They were worried that the land might become a desert rather than just a temporary lack of rain. Climate change is a significant factor contributing to this problem. However, agribusiness also plays a role in causing rivers and aquifers to dry up. Overexploitation of resources has led to small and livestock farmers quitting their businesses. In contrast, large monocultures such as avocado plantations require vast water to sustain themselves.
Cutting-edge technology and sustainable practices can help to address the challenges. Let’s find out how different solutions, including NDVI, can help to fight the crisis.
The Water Deficit Crisis in Chile
Chile’s climate, which combines dry northern regions with more temperate conditions in the south, has historically supported various agricultural activities. However, increasingly frequent droughts lead to critical water shortages.
In the last decade, Chile has faced one of the most severe droughts for a thousand years. Due to the shortage of rainfall, the country’s central regions have been experiencing more than 75% water scarcity. This has forced people to rely on mobile water tanks and local wells to fulfil daily water needs. The lack of access to clean water has become more critical with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has made it difficult for people to maintain basic hygiene practices, such as handwashing, which is essential to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Ministry of the Environment acknowledges that severe problems with access to drinking water and sanitation still exist. Effective resource management in which multiple stakeholders make decisions is also lacking. Continued efforts are needed to promote integrated planning tools that coordinate public and private initiatives.
Policy Shifts Influenced by the Crisis
Strategic Water Management:
Climate change is increasingly visible in Chile, with rising temperatures, new weather extremes, reduced rainfall, desertification, deforestation, and glacier retreat. Farming consumes 70% of the country’s water resources, making it a significant challenge to maintain adequate water reserves throughout the year. AgTech seeks to develop technologies for more sustainable, resilient, and efficient agriculture. Chile has been promoting the development of irrigation systems since 1985, which has resulted in 600,000 hectares of technical irrigated areas in 2020. However, this has fueled discussions about biodiversity and monoculture agro-production.
Adoption of Drought-Resistant Crops:
Climate-smart agriculture involves developing crops resistant to climate stressors. It helps to increase crop yield and protect crops from extreme weather conditions.
Enhancing crop resistance is critical to ensuring agricultural sustainability in the face of climate change. By adopting innovative practices and introducing crops that can withstand extreme conditions, farmers can reduce vulnerability, increase resilience, and minimize yield losses. Policymakers should prioritize investments to improve the resistance of plants to climatic variations, promoting sustainability.
Utilization of NDVI Technology:
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is a crucial index based on satellite images to assess plant health. The technology monitors vegetation health, allowing farmers and policymakers to make informed water allocation and crop management decisions.
The NDVI principle is based on the fact that healthy vegetation absorbs a lot of visible red light for photosynthesis and reflects a significant amount of near-infrared light. In contrast, unhealthy or sparse vegetation reflects more red light and absorbs less near-infrared light. By measuring the ratio between these two spectral bands, the NDVI formula gives a dependable indication of vegetation density, greenness, and overall health.
The application of this technology helps to detect crop stress early on. Farmers can monitor the values over time to identify problems caused by nutrient deficiencies, diseases, pests, or drought.
NDVI calculation enables precision agriculture by providing information about crop health. Farmers can use maps to identify field variability and adjust management practices, leading to improved efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
It is also a useful tool for water management in agriculture. By keeping an eye on the index values, growers can evaluate the water stress of vegetation and make necessary adjustments to their irrigation schedules. It helps in using water efficiently, reducing water wastage, and ensuring that crops get enough moisture without over-irrigation.
Farmers can estimate crop yields with the help of NDVI. By comparing the historical data with the real time yield data, it’s possible to predict future crop productivity. This information is useful in decision-making related to harvesting, storage, and marketing strategies. It helps farmers allocate resources better and reduce food waste.
Investment in Research and Development
There is a pressing need to address the global issue of water scarcity, and significant investments are being made in research and development to find innovative solutions. One of the key areas of focus is developing new technologies and practices for agriculture that can better withstand conditions of water scarcity. By doing so, we can ensure that vital food production is sustained even in areas where water is scarce, and help ease the impact of water shortages on people and the environment.
NDVI imagery: A Game-Changer in Farming Management
This tool is highly effective in managing the water scarcity crisis. It provides growers with detailed data on the health of their plants and soil, providing many valuable options. Optimizing irrigation schedules based on crop needs can save water, while detecting plant stress in early stages may indicate water stress or disease.
Constant monitoring of plant health allows decisions to be made based on reliable data. This is an excellent opportunity to determine optimal harvest time, yield potential and resource allocation.
The problem of water scarcity in Chile requires a multifaceted approach to solve it. Considering all the factors that affect the country’s water system, including unfavorable economic conditions and environmental threats, it is necessary to find solutions that impact people’s lives and increase the sustainability of the agricultural industry.
