Land Use/Cover and Productivity in the Compact Agricultural Areas of Mexico

Abstract

This paper presents a method to associate land use/cover with productivity in 16 Agrotech Observatories (AOTs) in Mexico. Compact agricultural areas in Mexico have been identified, which are monitored as to their behavior concerning production and rural productivity in a network of AOTs, which is a compact agricultural area representative of agro-ecological, technological and social conditions in the country. To optimize production and agricultural productivity in compact areas, a multidisciplinary and holistic approach with four lines of activity (agro-ecological, technological, economic, and social), and ten actions are used. The objective of this work was to obtain the land use/cover and productivity of sixteen compact agricultural areas (AOTs) in the Mexican Republic, using panchromatic and multispectral SPOT 5 imagery, in order to provide information to the agricultural sector of the country, and to support decision making contributing to the optimization of production in areas with high actual and potential productivity. As an example, in this paper the land use/cover and productivity “AOT 20 Hidalgo” were described. Currently, it is important to have updated and accurate information to support actions and programs of federal, state and local government for farmers, particularly in compact areas with high agricultural production potential.