The Space Application on Environment (SAFE) with the collaboration of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) of India, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) of Thailand, and AFSIS Secretariat had conducted the Training Program on Satellite-Derived Agrometeorological Data for AFSIS’s Rice Growing Outlook (RGO) for Agriculture Management in the ASEAN on 11 July 2022 as a virtual program.

The representatives from AFSIS Secretariat included Dr. Waraporn Saelee, AFSIS Manager, Mr. Tanabodee Kheosipalard, Statistician, Ms. Worada Wongsud, Secretary to the Japanese Expert, and Ms. Prodpran Lomthong, Project Coordinator.

There were 26 trainees from 8 ASEAN member countries attending the training, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

At the opening session, Dr. Waraporn Saelee delivered the welcome remarks and expressed her sincere gratitude and appreciation to all aforenamed agencies for their contribution to the training. 

The objectives of this training program were to provide detailed training on the use of agromet data utilization with the SAFE Agromet project and to improve the capabilities in the interpretation of satellite-based agromet information to RGO activities.

During the training, there were remarkable lectures from Dr. Shashikant A Sharma, Er. Ujjwal Kumar Gupta and Dr. Rahul Nigam from ISRO regarding the demonstration of Indian Satellite derived agrometeorological information through the Meteorological & Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre (MOSDAC), Python program, the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS), and Visualization of Earth Observation Data and Archival System (VEDAS). The trainees have learned step-by-step how to download data, data process, and generate the outputs using these programs.

The training was successfully conducted as the trainees were effectively imparted with the knowledge of agromet data utilization which can be applied to the RGO report and the agricultural statistics in their countries in the future.