The MARS project provides timely agricultural production projections for the current season, at the regional level and at higher levels. The European Commission needs this information to implement its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its Food Aid and Food Security Policy. To compute the projections, Alterra has set up a system to monitor and estimate harvest forecasts for various parts of the world. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission in Ispra (Italy) is developing this system further, in an effort that fits into the framework of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.
Immediate users of the projections are the European Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the EuropeAid Office. The MARS project also has links with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and national research organisations, such as in China. Expertise gained in the project is being applied in other research initiatives as well, for example, to assess the impact of sustainable development policies and to investigate the effects of climate change on land and water use in regional scenario studies.
In recent years, information generated by the project has influenced decisions on cereals imports and exports at the EU level and implementation of the CAP in general. The regularly issued crop bulletins and website have become a vital information source for the media and the public, especially when extreme weather events occur.
Alterra is a main contributor to the MARS project. The expertise hereby gained integrates a number of research areas and techniques:
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Statistical methods for calibration and forecasting
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GIS and database management
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Web-based information technology
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Agro-meteorological models (crop growth / yield)
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Standardisation and quality control
Related information
MARS website
Website of the GMES project on land cover and vegetation