ICT in plant production offers considerable potential to support sustainable intensification. Presented by Mike Robson, AGPM, FAO.

1. ICT: enhancing plant production
at field level
Mike Robson, Plant Production and Protection
Division, FAO
27th
October 2010

2. FAO’s strategic objective A: Sustainable Crop
Production Intensification
ICT in plant production offers considerable potential
to support sustainable intensification
 farmers have a major need for technical knowledge –
new technologies for production intensification are
“knowledge-intensive”...
 this knowledge is not always “hi-tech”
 extensionists (and others) need local knowledge to help
farmers overcome production constraints, avoid
unnecessary use of resources, etc
Introduction

3. technical knowledge transfer
provision of technical knowledge to farmers in the form of agricultural extension has
a long history, but:
 extension has experienced a long period of funding decline...
 new paradigms are emerging in extension, going beyond technology transfer to considering
the broader context (eg farm incomes and livelihoods) [Swanson et al, WB, 2010]
 farmers now have access to many more sources of information than previously (input supply
dealers, privatised extension services, farmers’ or commodity associations, etc), via mobile
phone or other ICTs
 challenges remain of how to:
 ensure that knowledge meets real (actual + latent) demand?
 identify where techniques are adopted, or adapted, locally?
 encourage further sharing to achieve impact at scale?
“one-way” knowledge transfer is unlikely to have much benefit, unless re-inforced in
local communities and institutions

4. local knowledge-gathering related to
sustainable intensification
 Is the field problem observable -> need for
expertise in identification, sampling, data
management, analysis (what data)
 Motivation, involvement (why is it needed)
 Infrastructure (how will it be collected/shared)
 Resources (who collects)
 Use (who benefits and how)

5. four examples from plant protection
1. Locust surveillance (Mauritania to India)
2. Monitoring multiplication sites for cassava
disease (Central Africa)
3. Roving crop pest surveys (India)
4. Large scale pest reporting
(Uganda/Tanzania)

6. problem: how to survey rapidly changing
Desert Locust upsurges in remote areas, to
plan locust control campaigns?
1. e-Locust2:

7. KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
Nomads, travelers and
farmers see signs of locust
activity
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
Survey teams record field
observations and
communicate locust activity
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
Based on LocustWatch, action
is taken to address the
situation
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
FAO analyses information
from all countries and other
sources to assess current
situation and publish
forecasts
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
National Locus Centres enter
field data in information
system for assessment
INFORMATION
FLOW
INFORMATION
FLOW
PUBLICATIONS:
In various
formats and
media
GLOBAL INFORMATION
NETWORK:
Face-to-face interactions and
Information/communication
technologies to help connect
people and share information
SUPPORTING INFORMATION FLOW AND THE
DESERT LOCUST KNOWLEDGE NETWORK
INFORMATION
FLOW
INFORMATION
FLOW
INFORMATION
FLOW
INFORMATION
FLOW
KNOWLEDGE AT WORK:
Partner organizations (universities
and private sector) work with FAO
to continually improve analytical
tools
INFORMATION
FLOW

8. 2. Cassava multiplication (C. Africa)
problem: how to monitor CBSD infection in
cassava multiplication sites, and reduce risk
of distributing infected material

9. effective communication to a national programme
task force using Digital Pen Technology

11. problem: how to get State IPM officials to gather
good quality geo-referenced pest data
for key crops (cotton rice, groundnut, pulses)? [PDA]
3. Roving pest surveillance (India)

12. 4. Pilot large scale pest reporting
Field worker
Sub-county extension
(DVO, DAO, NAADS
Coordinators)
District Production
Office (DVO, DAO,
NAADS)
System monitor
warnings
verified
Research
(NARO,
universities)
Field workers in
surrounding areas
confirmed data
Donors
(Project funding)
problem: how to gather early indications of pest problems,
capturing mobile voice calls more systematically?
[SMS Gateway]
SMS Gateway

13. lessons learnt
local knowledge gathering initiatives
should be subjected to rigorous testing,
for instance of:
 who will benefit from local knowledge
gathering
 what is to be collected
 where will the benefit come from
 how will collection be organised (and who will
collect it)

14. lessons learnt (2)
1. generally, the ICTs work (!) - but sometimes they don’t
survive field testing...
...“even ruggedised laptops don’t like sand”
...“the screen was too small for the survey form”, etc
2. some technologies which do work can be unexpectedly
unfamiliar and/or inappropriate (SMS/text in an oral
culture)
3. approaches are unpopular if they are purely “extractive” –
i.e. aim to aggregate data for national or regional purposes
without bringing any local user benefit
4. there is a wide range of interested parties (eg agricultural
research, the private sector, phone providers...)
5. many projects remain technology-driven, and donor-driven

15. concluding thoughts
 the potential for ICT to support sustainable crop production
intensification is real, for both technical empowerment and
local knowledge gathering
 the key is problem definition...and local ownership
 to move beyond projects and pilots there needs to be a
workable business model, including private sector
involvement
 we have learnt a number of important lessons, and want to
share and build on these to improve ICT support for
sustainable intensification

16. THANK YOU