The Government of Pakistan, with support from its cooperating partners, has initiated a comprehensive program to improve agricultural statistical reporting, using auxiliary data from Earth Observation satellites.
The project Agricultural Information System - Building Provincial Capacity in Pakistan for Crop Estimation, Forecasting and Reporting based on the integral use of Remotely Sensed Data focuses on enhancing current systems based on integrating remotely sensed data into existing data collection and analysis and dissemination systems, as well as the development of complementary systems to validate the use of satellite remotely sensed data for area estimation and yield forecasting. Land cover mapping was considered as a critical component of the area frame development and evolution. Many agricultural applications require detailed, updated, reliable and accurate baselines on land cover to support spatial monitoring and to evaluate ecosystem and landscape dynamics. FAO, with the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the Crop Reporting Services (CRS), supported the development of a harmonized land cover database. The land cover atlases of Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces & federally administered Tribal Areas have been developed. The series will be continued to provide complete coverage of the country.