Given the extremely flat topography of the Pampas system, agricultural production is sensitive to groundwater levels. Consequently subtle hills and low areas generate water deficient or exceeded areas with the occurrence of precipitation and / or groundwater elevation. While low areas are flooded, the hills increase their productivity by soil saturation which encourages crops growth.
Salado DSS allows smarter decisions concerning production to be made; when and what to harvest. Knowing the geo-spatial distribution of groundwater and surface water levels, allows the user to plan the critical tasks involved in agricultural production, such as planting and harvest dates, selection of crop according to expected soil moisture conditions; thus optimizing the management of low areas and hills. These decisions imply an increase in the producer's’ productivity.
Furthermore, this information may be used to develop insurance and financial derivatives in order to transfer production risks, or protect the production against the uncertainty of extreme weather events that occur in the region.
To learn more about this analysis lab visit of BerecoLabs “Resilience to climate change: Floods”
Figure 1 -Flooded (exposure) and affected (sensitivity) areas for recurrences between 2 and 500 years.
On the other hand, production in rural areas is closely related to the availability and access to a network of local roads (secondary and tertiary) that connect to the main roads (national and provincial routes) in order to optimize the transportation of goods. These networks are complex; for a municipality like Junín, they are estimated at 665 km of secondary roads and 210 km of tertiary rural roads (data from the Secretary of Public Works of Junín - 2016).
These roads are especially sensitive to water excesses, which provoque interruptions in their trace, increases in their maintenance requirements, damages on vital infrastructure that affect or constrain circulation. These situations affect costs and production possibilities directly, as it translates in an increase in the distances to travel in order to reach the same destination; affecting the ability to perform productive tasks in the best dates, leading in many cases, to the loss of production, i.e. dairy farms must ship their products daily as they are perishable goods.
DSS Salado is a tool with features for each stakeholder in the territory. It allows the authorities to understand and prioritize the repair and maintenance of critical roads. As producers are concerned, it enables them to plan the ideal route (shorter, lower cost) to access fields and facilities. These capabilities represent greater efficiency in investment and better decisions for production.
To learn more about this analysis lab visit of BerecoLabs “Risk analysis of roads”
Figure 2 -10 years of recurrence.