New open map dataset predicts crop yields across South Asia
Shirsath PB, Gangopadhyay P, Aggarwal PK, Goswami UP, Deo A
Climate Adaptation
If you've ever wondered how researchers forecast whether a drought will devastate rice paddies in Bangladesh or wheat fields in Punjab, this dataset is the groundwork that makes those predictions possible.
Scientists gathered scattered information about soils, planting seasons, irrigation, and fertilizer use for 10 major crops grown across South Asia and combined it into one consistent, high-resolution map. This gives crop modelers a shared starting point to test how farming systems might handle drought, climate shifts, or new management practices, replacing patchy global data that missed a lot of local farming detail. The whole dataset is free to download and use.
Key Findings
The dataset covers 10 major crops accounting for nearly 80% of South Asia's agricultural land area
Data is organized in a unified 50 x 50 km grid, integrating soil, crop distribution, phenology, planting dates, and fertilizer/irrigation schedules
It's compatible with major crop simulation platforms (DSSAT, APSIM, InfoCrop) and ISIMIP climate inputs, and is freely available on Zenodo
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers built a detailed, open-access map dataset covering soil, planting dates, irrigation, and fertilizer practices for 10 major crops across South Asia, giving scientists and policymakers a shared foundation for predicting how crops will respond to drought, climate change, and farming interventions.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
A harmonised gridded input dataset for simulation modelling of the major crops of South Asia.
Crop modelling at regional scales depends critically on the quality and representativeness of climate, soil, crop, and management input data. Existing global products provide detailed, bias-correct...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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