European Association of Remote Sensing Companies Sentinels Benefits Study (SeBS) A Case Study Growing Potatoes in Belgium The Home of Belgian Fries SeBS-CR-006 Page 1 June 2019 Client: ESA Client Representative: Alessandra Tassa Date of Delivery: March 2019 Version: Draft Author(s): Geoff Sawyer (EARSC) Christopher Oligschläger (EARSC) Nikolay Khabarov (IIASA) Reviewer Alessandra Tassa (ESA) Version Date Comment 1st Issue July 2019 or more information contact: • EARSC: [email protected] • ESA: [email protected] Funded by the EU and ESA – ESA Contract Number: 4000119743/17/I-SBo. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union. SeBS-CR-006 Page 2 June 2019 Table of Contents Setting the Scene ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 7 1 Introduction & Scope .......................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 The Context of this study ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 What is the Case all about? ................................................................................................................... 9 1.3 How does this case relate to others? .................................................................................................. 10 1.4 More About the Study ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 11 2 Potatoes and the Belgian Economy ................................................................................................... 12 2.1 The Potato’s Importance to Belgium ................................................................................................... 12 2.2 The Potato Sector in Belgium .............................................................................................................. 16 2.3 The Potato Processing Industry ........................................................................................................... 17 2.4 The Potato Growers............................................................................................................................. 19 2.5 Future Growth and Development ....................................................................................................... 23 2.6 Climate and Environmental Considerations ........................................................................................ 23 3 The Use of Sentinel Data ................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 General Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 How do satellites help potato farmers? .............................................................................................. 27 3.3 The Service - WatchITgrow .................................................................................................................. 28 3.4 Future Evolution of WatchITGrow ....................................................................................................... 35 4 Understanding the Value Chain ......................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Description of the Value-Chain ............................................................................................................ 39 4.2 The Actors ............................................................................................................................................ 40 4.2.1 Tier 1: Service Provider – VITO.............................................................................................................................. 40 4.2.2 Tier 2: Primary User – Farmers ............................................................................................................................. 41 4.2.3 Tier 3: Other Direct Users ..................................................................................................................................... 42 4.2.4 Tier 4: Potato Processing Industry ........................................................................................................................ 45 4.2.5 Tier 5: Supermarkets, Shops and Friteries ............................................................................................................ 46 4.2.6 Tier 6: Citizens and Society ................................................................................................................................... 46 4.2.7 Other Beneficiaries ............................................................................................................................................... 47 5 Assessing the Benefits. ...................................................................................................................... 48 5.1 Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 48 5.2 Benefits along the Value-Chain ........................................................................................................... 49 5.2.1 Tier 1: Service Provider – VITO.............................................................................................................................. 49 5.2.2 Tier 2: Primary User – Farmers ............................................................................................................................. 49 5.2.3 Tier 3: Other Direct Users ..................................................................................................................................... 55 5.2.4 Tier 4: Potato Processing Industry ........................................................................................................................ 56 5.2.5 Tier 5: Supermarkets, Shops – and Friteries ......................................................................................................... 58 5.2.6 Tier 6: Citizens and Society ................................................................................................................................... 58 5.2.7 Other Beneficiaries ............................................................................................................................................... 59 5.3 Summary of Benefits ........................................................................................................................... 59 6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 62 6.1 Summary of Findings ........................................................................................................................... 62 SeBS-CR-006 Page 3 June 2019 6.2 The Impact of Sentinel Data ................................................................................................................ 62 6.3 Widening the Perspective.................................................................................................................... 63 6.4 Final Thoughts ..................................................................................................................................... 64 Annex 1: References and Sources ............................................................................................................. 65 Annex 2: General Approach and Methodology ......................................................................................... 67 Annex 3: Winners… and losers? ................................................................................................................ 68 Annex 4: About the Authors ..................................................................................................................... 70 List of Figures Figure 2-1: Global Potato producers - top 20................................................................................... 12 Figure 2-2: European potato belt with major processing companies .............................................. 13 Figure 2-3: Potato exports in 2017 (€m) .......................................................................................... 14 Figure 2-4: Exports of Processed Potato products (€m) .................................................................. 15 Figure 2-5 Share of Potato Production in the EU. © Europatat Annual Report 2017...................... 15 Figure 2-6: James Bint ...................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 2-7: Employment growth in the Belgian potato processing industry ................................... 18 Figure 2-8 World potato trade of processed potatoes .................................................................... 19 Figure 2-9: Evolution of the potato growing land in Belgium .......................................................... 20 Figure 2-10: Production