Colombia Coffee Geoinformation System

Carlos R. Valenzuela and Alfonso Zuluaga

International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences
Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia

The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, aware of both present and future needs for information about the coffee-growing areas, is generating the "coffee land information system" as a basic tool for planning and research, using updated knowledge of the social, economic and technical structure of the coffee belt in Colombia. In 1993, the Federation began the national coffee survey by collecting data of all coffee producing units. More than 30,000 black-and-white aerial photographs (1:10,000 scale) and 1300 topographic maps (1:25,000 scale) are being used to delineate the spatial units. Under a technical cooperation agreement, ITC provided technical supervision and a knowledge transfer program. The Federation selected ITC's ILWIS system for the efficient management of the large volume of geographic data. The development of digital evaluation models and the "coffee lots georeferenced database" has emphasized the quality control processes and the use of digital photogrammetric monoplotting. The "statistical analysis system (SAS) is being used for attribute management and statistical analysis. This GIS technology will provide, among other things, dynamic support in digital cartography and basic georeferenced information for crop forecasting environmental protection and infrastructure projects.