The Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) has developed diagnostic apps and field kits to help rice farmers improve their productivity.
- eDamuhan app identifies the different weeds in rice fields through images taken by phone cameras.
- Leaf Color Computing app can evaluate the nitrogen needs of the rice plant through images of their leaves. It also generates nitrogen recommendations.
- Minus-one element technique kit (MOET) is a reliable, low-cost, and convenient technique for diagnosing soil nutrient deficiencies.
- MOET app is a complementary app in combination with the MOET kit. It includes a fertilizer requirement calculator that sets appropriate target yield and schedules and the precise amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur to be applied.
Read the story @Manila Bulletin
Crop nutrient management using Nutrient Expert improves yield, increases farmers’ income, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions
Nutrient Expert (NE) tool-based site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in rice and wheat crops can lower global warming potential by about 2.5% in rice and between 12% and 20% in wheat over farmers’ fertilization practice. More than 80% of the participating farmers increased their crop yield and farm income by applying the NE-based fertilizer recommendation. Adoption of NE-based fertilizer recommendation practice in all rice and wheat acreage in India would translate into 13.92 million tons more rice and wheat production with 1.44 metric tons (Mt) less N fertilizer use, and a reduction in GHG of 5.34 Mt CO2 per year over farmers’ current practice.
Diagnosis by deduction
Through the process of elimination, a simple diagnostic tool enables farmers to determine the kind of fertilizer their soil needs.
An app to help African rice farmers beat weeds
AfricaRice recently launched a powerful decision-support tool, called RiceAdvice-WeedManager, to help African rice farmers find the most effective and cost-efficient weed management strategies that match their specific farming conditions and available resources.
