balita.ph; November 5, 2014 12:28 am 

SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija, Nov. 4 (PNA) –Farmers in rainfed lowland rice areas are being encouraged to use an internet-based software that could help them manage their rice crops better.

Funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development, the use of software Rice Crop Manager (RCM) is seen to help bring an increase in yield or productivity, and also raise the income of farmers.

Dr. Nenita Desamero, project leader based at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), said the RCM is a location-specific decision support software that helps farmers calculate the right kind and amount of fertilizer needed in their rice fields.

“The use of this software is free of charge. Users only need internet connection. By honestly answering the 20 questions, they will be given recommendations specified for their farms,” Desamero said.

RCM is an application that could be accessed via a smartphone or a computer with Internet connection.

It allows extension officers to give farmers a specific recommendation on nutrient, pest, weed, or water management, depending on the specific variety they used, their yield from the previous season, and the site-specific conditions of their field.

RCM builds on the success of its predecessor, Nutrient Manager for Rice, which was only focused on nutrient management advice.

Through improved crop and nutrient management, RCM aims to add 300kg of unmilled rice to each crop per season, per hectare.

Moreover, the additional production for the country would amount to an extra 20,000 metric tons of milled rice for each 100,000 hectares of rice cultivation per season.

RCM was developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in collaboration with PhilRice.

The project, “Improving Livelihood and Overcoming Poverty in the Drought-Prone Lowlands in South and Southeast Asia,” promotes RCM in regions I, II, and III.

The project is also being implemented in Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.

However, Francisco Collado Jr, municipal agriculturist of Umingan, Pangasinan, cited the need to enhance the farmers’ ICT-based skill so they can benefit from the software.

To address issues on farmers’ internet access, Desamero said that aside from relying on the municipality’s few agricultural technologists, farmers’ children or grandchildren who know how to use the internet may help them. [By Magtanggol C. Villar (PNA) CTB/ZST/MCV/PS]