Yara ImageIT is a smartphone app designed to measure nitrogen uptake in a crop and generate a nitrogen recommendation based on photographs of the crop. ImageIT calculates nitrogen uptake based on leaf cover, leaf green color and estimated fraction of brown leaves. The app also generates an intelligent recommendation for adjusting the fertilization program based on measurements. ImageIT is user-friendly and flexible in terms of technical requirements: it works with low resolution images with a file size as small as 50 – 200 KB. If internet coverage is poor, ImageIT can save the photos on the...
Nigeria has one of the largest inventories of uncultivated farmland on earth, but they are losing crops in volumes because of labor shortages and lack of mechanization.” according to Jehiel Oliver, CEO of Hello Tractor. Many smallholder farmers cannot afford to pay someone else for high-season help. Owning a tractor would solve many of those problems. The first part of the business is the small, 15 horsepower tractor itself that Hello Tractor sells at $4,000, 10 times cheaper than the average tractor found in Africa. Each tractor comes with a GPS tracking device, so that its position can be...
Over 90% of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 million smallholder farmers lack access to formal credit. Although agriculture accounts for around 65% of employment and 32% of gross domestic product, less than 6% of commercial loan recipients are smallholder farmers. The problem is on both sides: on the one hand, farmers cannot purchase quality inputs to improve their production, on the other hand, financial institutions cannot provide loans without an accurate assessment of the farmers’ financial viability. Farmers are therefore left with little access to credit, and financial institutions with a hole...
The PRISE (Pest Risk Information Service) project forecasts pest outbreaks based on earth observation providing risk forecasts and early warnings in order for smallholders to take action and avoid crop losses. The project has been awarded £6.38 million (or 7,9 million USD) in funding over five years by the UK Space Agency . CABI CEO, Dr Trevor Nicholls, said, “An estimated 40 per cent of the world’s crops are lost to pests. This impacts the ability of smallholders living in poor rural communities to feed their families." The project will also be based on Plantwise, a CABI program combining a...
The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has published a guide or laws governing the use of UAVs. As of April 2016, 73% of ACP countries did not have any rules or regulations in place; 19% had some regulations in place; and 8% were in the process of formulating them. The data gathered in the course of the study have been published on a site hosted by The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) and are accessible at w ww.droneregulations.info . The use and application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or popularly known as drones is increasingly becoming common in...
In Uganda, the spread of agronomical information is quite challenging, and the number of extension officers cannot meet the growing demand from farmers who often need immediate assistance. Thanks to innovations in information technology, mobile and web-based platforms are proving to be a huge help. m-Omulimisa provides smallholder farmers with real-time farming information and solutions written in local languages via mobile technologies. Farmers can use their phones to ask questions in languages that they understand, and receive understandable feedback from extension officers in the region...
The online discussion on, “The role of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production (SCPI)” has officially ended. This has been a very fascinating discussion!. The sharp increase in the number of people joining the e-Agriculture platform over the course of the three weeks as well as the remarkable enthusiasm, with which the topic was discussed put in evidence the significant role of ICTs in sustainable intensification of horticulture crop-based systems. Over the course of the discussion forum (06 March to 03 April 2017), 247 new...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Rural and Urban Crop and Mechanization Systems Team (AGPML) and the e-Agriculture Team, (OPC) are glad to announce the upcoming online ‘forum’ discussion themed, “ The Role of ICTs in Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI) of horticulture crop based system ”. This forum on ICTs in Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI) of horticulture crop based systems ( mainly on fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers ) is part of broader discussion that aims to present the ongoing evolution in Agriculture and...
2017 EFITA WCCA Congress Date July 2nd - 6th, 2017 Location Montpellier Supagro school Description Many initiatives such as invited workshops and sessions and internal meetings come together within EFITA conference to make Montpellier the place to go in July when it comes to ICT for agri-food,...
The Plantwise Knowledge bank developed by CABI is an online and offline platform and app on plant health information and services. The website provides three different tools: search tool to identify pest problems, a search tool to find factsheets on pest problems, a map of pest distribution and a customized alert on pest news. The "Identify a Pest Problem" search tool invites you to select your location by country or region, then select a crop, and finally select the plant part affected. The results page shows the user a photo of the pest problem on one side and the symptoms on the other side...
2017 EFITA WCCA Congress Date July 2nd - 6th, 2017 Location Montpellier Supagro school Description Many initiatives such as invited workshops and sessions and internal meetings come together within EFITA conference to make Montpellier the place to go in July when it comes to ICT for agri-food,...