Remote sensing-based vegetation indices for monitoring rice crop phenology and productivity in cikakak sub-district, sukabumi regency

Abstract

Paddy is the main food crop consumed by most of the Indonesian daily. It is supported by the fact that rice consumption reached up to 1.55 tons in 2018, and Sukabumi Regency is among the five largest rice producer in Indonesia. The goal of this study is to determine the rice crop phenology and estimate rice productivity in one year of the planting season. The rice crop phenology was analyzed by comparing vegetation indices such as NDVI, ARVI, and MSAVI in different temporal situations. Vegetation indices derived from Sentinel-2 imageries via Google Earth Engine. A rice crop productivity model developed from the statistical relationship between in-situ-based productivity data and vegetation indices applied to estimate productivity per each paddy field at a sub-district level. Also, the estimation will be associated with elevation data. The results of this study are the pattern of the rice crop phenology and the number of harvesting time in one year-planting season. The rice productivity in the Cikakak sub-district estimates at the range between 6.50 to 8.87 tonnes per hectare. Estimation models utilizing NDVI and MSAVI are showing similar results, which averagely at 8.89 and 8.87 tonnes per hectare, respectively. Rice fields with high productivity are mostly located at 250 to 500 meters above sea level.