delivering information products to small-scale farmers: irri's experience with the crop manager

Delivering information products to small-scale farmers: IRRI's

experience with the Crop Manager

Roland J. Buresh, Rowena Castillo, and Marco van den Berg

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines

Remote Sensing WorkshopCIMMYT, Mexico City14-15 December 2013

Farming on small land holdings is often associated with high spatial and temporal

variations

Variations are common in• Crop management• Risks of flood and drought• Soil fertility• Financial resources of farmers• Access to new technologies

Need cost effective ways to• Provide farmers with

‘actionable’ information matching their specific needs

Develop computer- and smartphone-based tools for providing small-scale farmers of rice, maize, and wheat with customized, field-specific crop and nutrient management guidelines.

Our objective

• Use best available science to develop tools.• Verify and release through national agricultural

research and extension systems.• Ensure availability for wide-scale use across

public and private sectors and civil society organizations.

Our approach

• Uses scientific principles of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM)

• Aims to increase income of farmer by US$100 per ha per crop

• Provides customized recommendation for a farmer’s field through mobile phone or computer

IRRI developed Nutrient Manager for Rice to provide rice farmers with ‘precise’

fertilizer management practices

Partners and users requested a tool providing more than nutrient management

Nutrient Manager for Rice was upgraded Rice Crop Manager

Released nationwide in the Philippines and Bangladesh in 2013 through the national agricultural

research and extension systems

Indonesia – Nationwide release expected in early 2014

http://webapps.irri.org/bd/rcmhttp://webapps.irri.org/ph/rcm

Crop Manager is under development and testing for a number of countries

Beta versions now undergoing field testing in South Asia

Maize for Bihar and Odisha will be developed and tested in 2014

• Rice–wheat in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh

• Maize in Bangladesh

• Rice in Odisha

Cloud based serverCrop Manager model

• Nutrient management calculator

• Decision making calculator for crop management

Databases and spatial information

• Variety traits • Statistics on rice yields• Variety- and management-

adjusted yield targets

User interface: Obtain information

from farmer

Personal computerSmartphone

Actionable advice

Printed guidelines

SMSImage on

Smartphone

Operation of Crop Manager

1. User interface: Obtain information from farmer

An extension worker, crop advisor, or service provider interviews a farmer.

Information from interview• Location• Variety• Field size• Sowing/planting date• Past yield• Soil characteristic• Landscape position• Residue management• Irrigation use

Cloud based serverCrop Manager model

• Nutrient management calculator

• Decision making calculator for crop management

Databases and spatial information

• Variety traits • Statistics on rice yields• Variety- and management-

adjusted yield targets

User interface: Obtain information

from farmer

Personal computerSmartphone

2. Calculate customized recommendation

After the interview, collected information is transmitted to ‘model’ residing on a cloud based server and interfaced with databases and spatial information.

3. Actionable advice

• Nutrient management- Source, rates, and times

for field size

- N timing adjusted for water availability

• Crop establishment- Seed source

- Seed rate

• Crop protection- Weed management

- Insect management

• Irrigation

Recommendations provided to farmers through printouts and mobile phones.

Greatest uncertainties with information from farmer interview

Information from interview• Location• Variety• Field size• Sowing/planting date• Past yield• Soil characteristic• Landscape position• Residue management• Irrigation use

Crop yields and field sizes provided by farmers are often inaccurate

Valuable information needed from sources in addition to a farmer:•Target yield for upcoming season•Field size

User interface: Obtain information

from farmer

Cloud based server

Actionable advice

Printed guidelines

SMSImage on Smartphone

Crop Manager model

• Nutrient management calculator

• Decision making calculator for crop management

Databases and spatial information

• Variety traits • Statistics on rice yields• Variety- and management-

adjusted yield targets• Climate-adjusted yield targets• Within-season crop

performance and weather associated risks

Personal computerSmartphone

Climate adaptation and GHG

calculators

Future development of Crop Manager

Process of providing advice to farmers

Pre-season recommendation

Cropping season

Interview farmer before season

SMS or voice messaging service

Climate-adjusted yield targets

Within-season crop performance and weather associated risks

Future opportunities

• Use climate-and management-adjusted yield targets, for enhancing pre-season recommendations

• Use within-season information on crop performance and weather associated risks, for enhancing within-season adjustments in management

• Use remote sensing to verify field sizes, for enhancing use efficiencies of inputs