Mapping complex rice-cropping patterns in Bangladesh

Background
Rice is the staple food of and a major crop in Bangladesh. The harvested area covers 11.5 million ha or 61% of the total land area. Agriculture is the most important sector in Bangladeshs economy. It contributes 19.6% to the gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment for 63% of the countrys population. Because of the increase in population and the lack of high-quality agricultural land for expansion, boosting crop intensity and crop yields are the main options to increase production. Rice is grown in a complex mosaic of single-, double-, and triple-crop patterns across Bangladesh in the boro, aus, and aman seasons. Each region and season faces different challenges in terms of flooding and drought stress or pests and diseases. Mapping this multi-season pattern is a first step toward a comprehensive plan for increasing agricultural productivity.

Objectives
Where should we disseminate new stress-tolerant rice varieties and where could we possibly expand rice cultivation? An accurate and up-to-date seasonal rice area map is essential for such varietal targeting. To answer these questions as part of the STRASA project, the IRRI GIS lab has developed a methodology to (i) accurately map seasonal rice areas in Bangladesh, (ii) classify these areas as either rainfed or irrigated, and (iii) identify the cropping patterns.

Datasets
Satellite data: MODIS 8-day composites were used to calculate two indicesthe Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the NDVI Monthly Maximum Value Composites (NDVI-MVC)using surface reflectance values from the red (620670 nm) and NIR1 (841875 nm) bands. The NDVI-MVC was used for classification and the NDVI 8-day dataset was used for identifying and labeling seasonal rice classes. Extensive field-plot data: Field-plot information was collected between 4 and 12 Aug. 2010 (during the aman season) for 191 sample sites covering the major rice-growing areas (which includes shallow bore wells, irrigated surface water, and rainfed areas) across Bangladesh. In addition, field crop observations were made extensively while driving, by capturing other locations for additional information at 414 locations for accuracy assessment. Agriculture census data. Secondary data (Google Earth, rainfall data, national rice area statistics and high resolution images: Landsat 7, ASTER and IRS).

Fig. 2. Spatial distribution of rice cultivation for 2010.

Methods
A comprehensive methodology for mapping seasonal rice areas using MODIS 8-day 500-m data was developed (Fig. 1).
MODIS 8-day 500-m composites of surface reflectance product (MOD09A1)

Boro rice (2009-10) Area: 5,011,634 ha Accuracy: 85%

Aus rice (2010-11) Area: 1,103,738 ha Accuracy: 77%

Aman rice (2010-11) Area: 5,816,240 ha Accuracy: 79%

NDVI-MVC and NDVI 8-day composites

Ideal spectra using field plot data

Unsupervised classification (NDVI-MVC) Class spectra Grouping of similar classes by decision tree algorithms and spectral matching techniques (SMTs) Mask mixed over NDVI-MVC
Rice areas from MODIS: districtwise (000 ha)
Rice areas from MODIS: districtwise (000 ha)
300

Boro rice
y = 1.0682x 2 R = 0.9847
Rice areas from MODIS: districtwise (000 ha)
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Aus rice
y = 0.9977x R2 = 0.9517

350

Aman rice y = 1.0321x R2 = 0.9635

Class identification and labeling process

250

300

250

200

Class spectra (NDVI-MVC)

Class spectra (NDVI 8-day)

Field-plot data

Google Earth data

200

150

150

100

Seasonal rice crop

Yes

Is class identified?

No

100

Mixed class

50

50

Accuracy assessment

Area calculations and comparisons

0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Rice areas from national statistics: districtwise (000 ha)

Rice areas from national statistics: districtwise (000 ha)

Rice areas from national statistics: districtwise (000 ha)

Fig. 1. Methodology flowchart.

Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of seasonwise rice cultivation in 2010 and districtwise rice areas with seasonwise comparison between the MODIS classification and national statistics (64 districts across study area).

Results and conclusions

We observed and mapped the distinct NDVI phenological signatures in Bangladesh for irrigated triple-crop rice, irrigated double-crop rice, irrigated single-crop rice, rainfed single-/double-crop rice, and deepwater single-crop rice. We developed a 14-class rice map across all seasons (Fig. 2) and a corresponding rice area map for each rice season: boro, aus, and aman (Fig. 3), for 2010. The accuracy of the seasonal rice area maps was determined by comparison against the official rice areas provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics for each of the 64 Zila or districts in the country (Fig. 3). There was a very strong correspondence between the MODIS-derived area and the reported areaR2 values of 98% for boro, 95% for aus, and 96% for aman. A fuzzy classification accuracy assessment across the 14 rice classes estimated an overall accuracy of 80%, but this varied from 50% to 100% across classes. Almost all of the intermixing or misclassification was between various rainfed rice classes. This is the most recent and accurate map of the complex rice environments in Bangladesh. Mapping seasonal rice areas is the first step in characterizing important ricegrowing environments for sustainable rice development and livelihoods. Detailed and up-to-date maps are important inputs for assessing the impact of droughts and floods, which regularly affect the region.
Acknowledgments: This study is part of the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Murali Krishna Gumma1, Andrew Nelson1, Aileen Maunahan1, and Saidul Islam2
1 2 International

International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines Rice Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

contact: m.gumma@irri.org, a.nelson@irri.org