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the managers of the bank where I work at have been considering creating a "GIS-unit" that would help with economic-related research / business inteligence. They asked me to raise a list of reasons of why/how such group would benefit the bank businesses. So, my friends, I pass this question to you all. Which arguments can you think of for making the case for the bank to create such group? Just a note, this bank is strong in agricultural-related investments.

TL/DR: How can GIS benefit an agricultural-bank businesses???

Thank you.

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3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

I envision a "Farmland Suitablility Database" that can analyze land suitablility conditions for various crops and make crop yield projections. Information from the database could be used to help assess the risk of an investment, or for marketing financial instruments among land owners with the right stuff.

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Just noticed you'd already got my answer! Similar systems have been around for a while in Aus - pasturesfromspace.csiro.au – om_henners Mar 11 '11 at 14:39
+1 for having a way cool, relevant example on hand – BrianPeasley Mar 12 '11 at 9:19
My idea is that you rather need to hire a soil scientist and/or an agronomist rather than creating a GIS database if this is what you are after. I've seen lots of suitability maps being produced, but never saw them being used. – johanvdw Mar 13 '11 at 6:01
up vote 5 down vote

Some reasons that came into my mind:

-Check for frauds related to land size, crop extents, etc.
-Analise the extents of the damage in case of an insurance claim.
-Be able to retrieve fast data to build prognostics make future planning and make and answer questions like: "how much area is in this tornado danger zone?"
"What is the expected crop losses if the rain in the region x continues to fall?"
"Why this guy say that his expected production is 3 when all his neighbors production are 1.5?"

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up vote 1 down vote

I would like to suggest you to post this question as a discussion in LinkedIn as well. Some groups like GIS, Mapping, and Geo Technology Professionals and GIS Group have experts from various domains which would enable you to get more valuable answers. I have seen few discussions spanning several months.

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That might be a good idea. Maybe you could refer some of the people from LinkedIn to this site as well? – jvangeld Mar 11 '11 at 19:40

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