Kick-off Meeting in Vietnam, July 24, 2013

< Last Update: 12 Sep. 2013 >

Summary

  • Venue: An Giang University, 19 Ung Van Khiem St. Long Xuyen City, An Giang, Vietnam

Kick-off Meeting of Vietnam's prototype was held in An Giang University on July 24, 2013. 21 participants from 8 organizations including An Giang University, DARD (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) An Giang, and CESBIO/CNRS are joined the meeting.

After self-introductions, Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen, HoChiMinh City Institute of Resources Geography (HCMIRG) - VAST opened the floor. SAFE Secretariat introduced outline of SAFE initiative, and HCMIRG introduced past rice monitoring projects and their SAFE prototype "Rice Crop Monitoring in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam" which was approved in the last SAFE Workshop held in Nagoya, Japan on June 2013. Following them, introduction of Asia-RiCE initiative, rice crop monitoring software and rice crop monitoring research in Japan were presented from Japanese side. Then, several discussions including DARD An Giang as a potential end user of this prototype were followed. Responding to comments / recommendations from the last SAFE workshop, the followings were confirmed;

  1. This prototype will use a variety of satellite data for sustainable development of rice cropping. The main purpose is to use ScanSAR mode of PALSAR-2 / ALOS-2 for scanning very wide area at one time.
  2. It is encouraged to collaborate with Asia-RiCE and GEOGLAM.
  3. As for availability of several satellite sensors to this prototype, HCMIRG will use those data including Cosmo / Skymed. Dr. Thuy is trying to negotiate with European agency to use them.
  4. Final goal of this prototype is real operational use of agricultural information derived from satellite data.

The next day of the kick-off meeting, prototyping team visited An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock Company (AGPPS), with scopes of crop protection chemicals, seeds, processing rice for export etc., to understand rice crop and its research (e.g. rice cultivar) in Vietnam and had meeting with rice farmers in the potential paddy filed area for in-situ measurement. It was very good opportunity to understand rice cropping system including yield, crop intensity, crop calendar and rice price, in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Agenda

Time Activity
13:30-13:40 Welcome address and opening remarks by AGU, HCMIRG / VAST
13:40-13:55 Introduction to SAFE initiative (JAXA)
13:55-14:10 Introduction to "SAFE Prototype: Rice Crop Monitoring in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam" (HCMIRG)
14:10-14:25 Introduction to existing / previous rice monitoring projects (HCMIRG)
14:25-14:40 Introduction to Asia-RiCE initiative and existing/previous rice monitoring projects (NIAES / JAXA / RESTEC)
  • - Asia-RiCE (Asia-Rice Crop Estimation & Monitoring)
  • - Rice crop monitoring in Japan
  • - Rice crop monitoring software
14:40-15:00 Request from End-User Agency (DARD An Giang)
  • - Needed information for operational use in agricultural policy
15:00-15:20 Tea break
15:20-15:40 Technical suggestions from technical supporters (CESBIO, NIAES)
15:40-16:10 Discussion (All, Led by HCMIRG / VAST)
  • - Project Framework
  • - Available data (satellite and in-situ data, agricultural stats)
  • - in-situ measurement plan for validation
  • - Schedule (to-do list, related events)
16:10-16:30 Sign MoU (AGU and HCMIRG)
Closing Remarks by JAXA
Group Photo

Photographs

Opening Remark (Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen, HCMIRG-VAST)

Opening Remark (Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen, HCMIRG-VAST)

Introduction to SAFE initiative (Mr. Tomoyuki Nukui, EORC/JAXA)

Introduction to SAFE initiative (Mr. Tomoyuki Nukui, EORC/JAXA)

Introduction to "SAFE Prototype: Rice Crop Monitoring in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam" (Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen, HCMIRG-VAST)

Introduction to "SAFE Prototype: Rice Crop Monitoring in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam" (Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen, HCMIRG-VAST)

Introduction to Asia-RiCE initiative (Dr. Kei Oyoshi, EORC/JAXA)

Introduction to Asia-RiCE initiative (Dr. Kei Oyoshi, EORC/JAXA)

Introduction to rice crop monitoring software (Mr. Toshio Okumura, RESTEC (Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan))

Introduction to rice crop monitoring software (Mr. Toshio Okumura, RESTEC (Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan))

Existing/previous rice crop monitoring in Japan (Dr. Naoki Ishitsuka, NIAES (National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences))

Existing/previous rice crop monitoring in Japan (Dr. Naoki Ishitsuka, NIAES (National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences))

Technical suggestions from technical supporters (Dr. Thuy Le Toan, CESBIO/CNRS)

Technical suggestions from technical supporters (Dr. Thuy Le Toan, CESBIO/CNRS)

Request from End-User Agency (DARD An Giang)

Request from End-User Agency (DARD An Giang)

Sign MoU between HCMIRG-VAST and An Giang University

Sign MoU between HCMIRG-VAST and An Giang University

Group Photo

Group Photo

Visiting AGPPS

Visiting AGPPS

Meeting with rice crop farmer

Meeting with rice crop farmer