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Citizen Engagement

Mobile application to boost Filipino farmers

By Adrienne Valdez | 10 February 2011

The International Rice Research Institute recently introduced Nutrient Manager for Rice Mobile in the Philippines.

IRRI, together with the Department of Agriculture and other international research organisations, officially unveiled NMRiceMobile, a complete fertiliser guide that can be used through even the simplest mobile phone models.

Originally launched as an Internet application, NMRiceMobile gives farmers advice on the optimal timing, amount and type of fertiliser to apply to their rice crop to maximise production and profit and reduce waste.

“We already have an Internet-based application, but the Internet is not available to many farmers. The unique feature of NMRiceMobile is that it’s available to any farmer who has just the simplest mobile phone.

“So it makes connectivity to a farmer and access to information much easier for a farmer even in remote areas,” Dr. Roland Buresh, IRRI nutrient management expert and lead developer of NMRiceMobile, told FutureGov in an interview.

IRRI continues to be involved in the development of comparable tools in other countries, but The Philippines is the first to have a mobile phone application wherein a farmer dials a toll free number and answers a series of questions specific to his rice field by pressing the keypads. Shortly after the call, the farmer will receive a text message with the fertiliser recommendations.

“For most rice producing countries, The Philippines included, about 20 per cent of the farmer’s cost goes to the purchase of fertilisers.

“Fertilisers are recognised as a costly input, a very important input, and necessary in terms of getting high yields and high profitability for the farmer. Rice farms are also managed differently in various areas, and because of this difference, the need for nutrients are also different from field to field,” Dr.Buresh explained.

The project is a product of years of scientific research and collaboration between different organisations across Asia.

“To help farmers the most, we aim to give them a recommendation that’s tailored to their specific rice growing condition,” said Dr. Buresh.

NMRiceMobile needs little maintenance as most of the process is automated. To date, the application continues to be developed as a total crop manager.

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