# Fine-Scale (10 m) Dynamics of Smallholder Farming through COVID-19 in Eastern Thailand
## 3 Results
### Cropland Changes  
We generated annual land cover maps from summer 2017 to summer 2023 (Figure 8). In general, urban areas increased by 1799.31 km\({}^{2}\), which was expected given the continued urbanization in the region. However, it occurred at the expense of losing open water (303.58 km\({}^{2}\)) and natural forest lands (570.03 km\({}^{2}\)). One exception was the overestimation of urban areas for the eastern part of Chanthaburi in the 2022/2023 map due to cloud contamination, which occurs frequently in the tropics. Grass/shrub had only a slight decrease, with a loss of 1.18 km\({}^{2}\). There was an increase in base ground by 449.84 km\({}^{2}\), much of which was related to land clearing for imminent agricultural use. Agricultural lands also showed variation in acreage changes across the pandemic (Figure 9). For example, rice farms had land loss, with a change in land area of 878.15 km\({}^{2}\), a 10.6% decrease. A significant decrease in the oil palm farm area was present with the loss of 4132.58 km\({}^{2}\) being measured, a 69.3% decrease. A small yet noticeable decline in rubber farming was present with a loss of 51.35 km\({}^{2}\) corresponding to a 1.46% decrease. On the other hand, several crop types were found to increase in area size. There was a significant increase in the area occupied by durian orchards with the addition of 323.96 km\({}^{2}\), a 158.2% increase. An increase in the area of eucalyptus land was present with the addition of 695.74 km\({}^{2}\), a 44.1% increase, as well as a 168.2% increase in pineapple farm area with an additional 939.70 km\({}^{2}\). There was also a 62.5% increase in sugarcane farming area with the addition of 423.39 km\({}^{2}\). An increase in the cassava farming area was measured with an increase of 917.45 km\({}^{2}\), a 133.5% increase. Mangosteen orchards also increased  
Figure 7: Producers’ and users’ accuracies and F1-scores for individual land cover types, including detailed crop types in the study area. by 118.1% with 101.06 km\({}^{2}\). Lastly, land covered by coconut trees increased by 91.50 km\({}^{2}\), a 39.6% increase. Throughout the pandemic, the change trends varied across different types of crops. For example, durian and mangosteen showed a decreasing trend during and even before the pandemic (e.g., 2019). However, they recovered quickly from the pandemic, and their acreage is now above the pre-pandemic level. In contrast, rice and oil palm which are the major crops in the region continued to decline over the years. Eucalyptus, pineapple, sugarcane, cassava, and coconut showed a relative upward trend during the studied timeframe. Rubber production was slightly affected at the beginning of the pandemic but was able to recover to the pre-pandemic level. In our study area, rice cultivation was primarily concentrated in the northern regions, specifically within three provinces: Chachoengso, Prachin Buri, and Sa Kaeo. While the cultivation of rice remained consistent in this area over the years, both its spatial coverage and density experienced a gradual decline. Regarding tree plantations, rubber trees were extensively distributed throughout the study area, particularly in Chachoengso, Chanthaburi, Rayong, Chon Buri, and Trat. Although the spatial coverage of rubber plantations exhibited fluctuations during the study period, the overall spatial pattern remained relatively stable. In contrast, the spatial distribution of durian plantations presented a distinct pattern. Particularly noteworthy is the significant increase in durian plantation coverage observed in Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat provinces since 2022. Given that durian trees typically require 3-6 years to mature and produce fruit, it is plausible that the surge in durian cultivation began several years prior to being accurately captured by remote sensing. This phenomenon may also elucidate some spatial inconsistencies observed in durian plantation regions before 2022 when trees were small.