Small-grain cereal crops are a class of crops that produce small seeds or grains for human consumption or animal feed, and are known for their high nutritional value and widespread cultivation worldwide. Small grain cereal crops (sorghum, finger millet, and maize) play a vital role in the global food supply and are essential components of the farming system. This study aims to investigate the use of GIS and remote sensing to map the production patterns of these crops in the Limpopo Province. Sentinel 2 images, Agriculture Research Council (ARC) data, ground spectrophotometer data, climatic and soil data from ARC and the Department of Agriculture, and spatial data from the USGS are analysed using ArcGIS Pro and ENVI 5.6. Satellite images are classified via supervised spectral angle mapper classification, with an overall accuracy of 84.93% and a kappa of 0.82. The study revealed that maize was the dominant crop in the 2024/25 cropping season, covering 63758.23 hectares, with sorghum and finger millets covering 14567.07 and 3568.35 hectares. Significant relationships were found between the crops and humidity, temperature, organic carbon, soil water-holding capacity, soil pH, soil drainage, and rainfall, as indicated by p-values less than 0.05. Suitability results indicate that many areas are marginally suitable for maize, moderately suitable for finger millet, and sorghum. These findings provide valuable information for enhancing agricultural practices, resource management, and informed decision-making in Limpopo Province.

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Application of GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques in Mapping Selected Small Grain Cereal Crops in Limpopo Province (South Africa)

  • M. F. Nephalama,
  • F. Dondofema,
  • E. T. Gwata

摘要

Small-grain cereal crops are a class of crops that produce small seeds or grains for human consumption or animal feed, and are known for their high nutritional value and widespread cultivation worldwide. Small grain cereal crops (sorghum, finger millet, and maize) play a vital role in the global food supply and are essential components of the farming system. This study aims to investigate the use of GIS and remote sensing to map the production patterns of these crops in the Limpopo Province. Sentinel 2 images, Agriculture Research Council (ARC) data, ground spectrophotometer data, climatic and soil data from ARC and the Department of Agriculture, and spatial data from the USGS are analysed using ArcGIS Pro and ENVI 5.6. Satellite images are classified via supervised spectral angle mapper classification, with an overall accuracy of 84.93% and a kappa of 0.82. The study revealed that maize was the dominant crop in the 2024/25 cropping season, covering 63758.23 hectares, with sorghum and finger millets covering 14567.07 and 3568.35 hectares. Significant relationships were found between the crops and humidity, temperature, organic carbon, soil water-holding capacity, soil pH, soil drainage, and rainfall, as indicated by p-values less than 0.05. Suitability results indicate that many areas are marginally suitable for maize, moderately suitable for finger millet, and sorghum. These findings provide valuable information for enhancing agricultural practices, resource management, and informed decision-making in Limpopo Province.