Satellite based remote sensing technique as a tool for real time monitoring of leaf retention in natural rubber plantations affected by abnormal leaf fall disease

Abstract

Most parts of the traditional natural rubber growing regions of India, extending from Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu in the South to Kasaragod district of Kerala in the North received excess and prolonged rains during 2013. This led to severe incidence of Abnormal Leaf Fall (ALF) disease caused by the fungus, <i>Phytophthora</i> sp. The present study demonstrated the first time use of satellite remote sensing technique to monitor ALF disease by estimating Leaf Area Index (LAI) in natural rubber holdings in near real time. Leaf retention was monitored in between April and December 2012 and 2013 by estimating LAI using MODIS 15A2 product covering rubber holdings spread across all districts in the traditional rubber growing region of the country that was mapped using Resourcesat LISS III 2012 and 2013 data. It was found that as the monsoon advanced, LAI decreased substantially in both years, but the reduction was much more substantial and prolonged in many districts during 2013 than 2012 reflecting increased leaf fall due to ALF disease in 2013. The decline was more pronounced in central and northern Kerala than in the South. Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu is generally known to be free from ALF disease, but there was considerable leaf loss due to ALF in June 2012 and June and July 2013 even as the monsoon was unusually severe in 2013. Weighted mean LAI during for the entire period of April to December was estimated as a weighted average of LAI and per cent of total area under rubber in each district in the study area for the two years. This was markedly less in 2013 than 2012. The implications of poor leaf retention for biomass production (net primary productivity), carbon sequestration and rubber yield are discussed.

Effective Usage of GIS and Remote Sensing for Sustainable Development of Rubber Industry

“…Remote sensing tools based on satellites are becoming increasingly useful in diagnosing and inspecting drought in a range of yield . [4]). Dreadful dryness during the sunny season drastically lowers natural rubber development and yield, this study calculate the spatial parameters of stress in agricultural drought in latex tree colony in Tamilnadu south state Kanyakumari and Kerala.…”

Application of Optical Remote Sensing in Rubber Plantations: A Systematic Review

“…A possible explanation could be that such studies are limited by the occurrence of the disease, which can be infrequent, and the scale of the incident, which needs to be large enough to be detected by satellite images. One document [15] had used satellite images to monitor Phytophthora leaf disease, which is caused by fungus. Interestingly, the study demonstrated that remote sensing techniques can facilitate the detection of leaf disease.…”

“…Two platforms were observed to obtain data for the detection, mapping and investigation of disease outbreaks in rubber: Satellite and UAV as in Table 9. Two studies [15,143] used satellite imagery to detect and monitor leaf diseases at plantation level. Ranganath et al [143] used multi-date imagery from the IRS satellite to evaluate its potential for detecting and monitoring the outbreak of Corynespora and Gloeosporium fungi in rubber plantations in the south of India.…”

“…They applied the Maximum Likelihood algorithm to delineate healthy and infected rubber trees. On the other hand, Pradeep et al [15] demonstrated the capability of using leaf area index (LAI) values extracted from the MODIS 15A2 product to monitor abnormal leaf fall caused by Phytophthora sp. in their study area.…”

“…In addition to the problems already faced by smallholders, rubber plantations are also exposed to other production challenges. These include pests and diseases [13][14][15][16][17]; poor agricultural management practices [18]; competition for land [16,19] and more recently, worldwide rapid expansion into unsuitable agricultural sites [20][21][22][23][24]. Effective plantation management and monitoring is therefore vital to ensure sustainable rubber production.…”