Remote sensing –Beyond images Mexico 14-15 December 2013 The workshop was organized by CIMMYT Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), CGIAR Research Program on Maize, the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and the Sustainable Modernization of the Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro)

1. 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 Workshop
CIMMYT, Mexico City
14-15 December 2013

2. 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

3. Our objective
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 approach
• 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.

4. IRRI developed Nutrient Manager for Rice
to provide rice farmers with ‘precise’
fertilizer management practices
• 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
Partners and users requested a tool providing
more than nutrient management

5. 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
http://webapps.irri.org/ph/rcm
http://webapps.irri.org/bd/rcm
Indonesia – Nationwide release expected in early 2014

6. Crop Manager is under development and
testing for a number of countries
Beta versions now undergoing field testing in South Asia
• Rice–wheat in
Bihar and eastern
Uttar Pradesh
• Maize in
Bangladesh
• Rice in Odisha
Maize for Bihar and
Odisha will be developed
and tested in 2014

7. Operation of Crop Manager
Smartphone
Personal computer
User interface:
Obtain information
from farmer
Cloud based server
Crop Manager model
• Variety traits
• Statistics on rice yields
• Variety- and managementadjusted yield targets
• Nutrient management
calculator
• Decision making
calculator for crop
management
Actionable
advice
Databases and spatial
information
Printed
guidelines
Image on
Smartphone
SMS

8. 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

9. 2. Calculate customized recommendation
Smartphone
Personal computer
User interface:
Obtain information
from farmer
Cloud based server
Crop Manager model
• Nutrient management
calculator
• Decision making
calculator for crop
management
Databases and spatial
information
• Variety traits
• Statistics on rice yields
• Variety- and managementadjusted yield targets
After the interview, collected information is transmitted to
‘model’ residing on a cloud based server and interfaced with
databases and spatial information.

10. 3. Actionable
advice
Recommendations provided
to farmers through printouts
and mobile phones.
• 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

11. 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

12. Future development of Crop Manager
Smartphone
Personal computer
User interface:
Obtain information
from farmer
Cloud based server
Databases and spatial
information
Climate
adaptation
and GHG
calculators
• Variety traits
• Statistics on rice yields
• Variety- and managementadjusted yield targets
• Climate-adjusted yield targets
• Within-season crop
performance and weather
associated risks
Crop Manager model
• Nutrient management
calculator
• Decision making
calculator for crop
management
Actionable
advice
Printed
guidelines
Image on
Smartphone
SMS

13. Process of providing advice to farmers
Interview farmer
before season
Climate-adjusted
yield targets
Pre-season
recommendation
Within-season crop performance and
weather associated risks
SMS or voice messaging service
Cropping season

14. 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 withinseason adjustments in management
• Use remote sensing to verify field sizes, for
enhancing use efficiencies of inputs