Invitation to the Press: DG JRC - Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing
25 November 2004 - 25 November 2004
The conference is taking place in Budapest from 24 to 27 November, 2004, bringing together over 250 key representatives from government and industry working within IT, imaging instrumentation and support of farmers in all member states and candidate countries (32 countries will be present at the Conference).
The backdrop to this DG JRC event is the fundamental Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, adopted in September 2003. This implies important changes and adaptation in the management and control systems of the Member States, for which the development and use of Remote Sensing, geomatics, information & communication technologies is essential.
Using innovative Geographic information system (GIS) technology, satellite imagery and land parcel identification systems (LPIS), the European Commission is playing a key role in preventing agricultural subsidy irregularities. Through better monitoring of CAP reforms, the Commission is ensuring that subsidies are distributed more quickly, efficiently, fairly and reliably.
The role of the MARS (Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing) Programme is to support EU Directorate-General Agriculture, Member States and Candidate Countries in the sound implementation and control of the CAP. ,The objective of the Programme is to continue developing a control system to suit the future CAP Reform with its different schemes and to ,operationally use High and Very High Resolution imagery in risk analysis, and fraud detection.
What this means, in practice, is that farmers can now more precisely ,determine their agricultural parcel boundaries and file more accurate subsidy applications. LPIS digital data enables the production of ,customised maps to be sent to farmers as part of the subsidy application procedure. This helps all farmers in an expanded EU to complete their forms more accurately, reduce errors and facilitate administration. It is expected that, each year, five million farmers and farming businesses will declare more than 50 million agricultural parcels. The Commission and EU Member States will also be better able to spot irregularities and prevent fraud.
What does this media briefing offer?
After panel discussions open to media, a press conference will be held ,at 13:00. This will feature key speakers providing journalists with further insights into progress made and future perspectives. ,Practical demonstrations, focussing on New Member States, will be given to show how satellite data are used to monitor farmer declarations. ,Participating media will have the opportunity to see the level of detail ,that can be zoomed in, how an application form should be completed, and to view state of the art technologies to archive and retrieve large volumes of satellite data.
Following an extended Q&A, a networking lunch offering maximum interviewing opportunities will take place. In addition, one to one meetings with leading scientists, project demonstrations, viewing of scientific posters, sampling of agricultural products, and local sightseeing initiatives will be organised.
Media are requested to complete and return the registration form overleaf.
The PDF version of this Diary Note can be downloaded at:,http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/download/dn20041103mars.pdf
For further information on the event please contact:
Aidan Gilligan, JRC Public Relations Unit; ,Tel: +32 (0)2 2986482; Fax: +32 (0)2 2996322; ,Email: aidan.gilligan@cec.eu.int
The backdrop to this DG JRC event is the fundamental Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, adopted in September 2003. This implies important changes and adaptation in the management and control systems of the Member States, for which the development and use of Remote Sensing, geomatics, information & communication technologies is essential.
Using innovative Geographic information system (GIS) technology, satellite imagery and land parcel identification systems (LPIS), the European Commission is playing a key role in preventing agricultural subsidy irregularities. Through better monitoring of CAP reforms, the Commission is ensuring that subsidies are distributed more quickly, efficiently, fairly and reliably.
The role of the MARS (Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing) Programme is to support EU Directorate-General Agriculture, Member States and Candidate Countries in the sound implementation and control of the CAP. ,The objective of the Programme is to continue developing a control system to suit the future CAP Reform with its different schemes and to ,operationally use High and Very High Resolution imagery in risk analysis, and fraud detection.
What this means, in practice, is that farmers can now more precisely ,determine their agricultural parcel boundaries and file more accurate subsidy applications. LPIS digital data enables the production of ,customised maps to be sent to farmers as part of the subsidy application procedure. This helps all farmers in an expanded EU to complete their forms more accurately, reduce errors and facilitate administration. It is expected that, each year, five million farmers and farming businesses will declare more than 50 million agricultural parcels. The Commission and EU Member States will also be better able to spot irregularities and prevent fraud.
What does this media briefing offer?
After panel discussions open to media, a press conference will be held ,at 13:00. This will feature key speakers providing journalists with further insights into progress made and future perspectives. ,Practical demonstrations, focussing on New Member States, will be given to show how satellite data are used to monitor farmer declarations. ,Participating media will have the opportunity to see the level of detail ,that can be zoomed in, how an application form should be completed, and to view state of the art technologies to archive and retrieve large volumes of satellite data.
Following an extended Q&A, a networking lunch offering maximum interviewing opportunities will take place. In addition, one to one meetings with leading scientists, project demonstrations, viewing of scientific posters, sampling of agricultural products, and local sightseeing initiatives will be organised.
Media are requested to complete and return the registration form overleaf.
The PDF version of this Diary Note can be downloaded at:,http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/download/dn20041103mars.pdf
For further information on the event please contact:
Aidan Gilligan, JRC Public Relations Unit; ,Tel: +32 (0)2 2986482; Fax: +32 (0)2 2996322; ,Email: aidan.gilligan@cec.eu.int