Pivot irrigation needs

In Zambia, ESA’s Food Security Thematic Exploitation Platform has helped farmers in a drought-prone part of Zambia. Here, during the dry season, this surface reservoir is used for much-needed irrigation. The last few years, however, have been exceptionally dry and water levels have fallen. Zambian farmers along with their agricultural advisor BayWa and the VISTA remote-sensing service provider have started to use Copernicus Sentinel-2 data to work out how much irrigation is needed. This has saved them up to 1750 cubic metres of water for one pivot and in one day of irrigation alone, helping to stabilise the vulnerable water resource.