Growing use of ICT in agriculture helping to "transform Africa"

An influential report on education, training and development in Africa shows that the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is beginning to have a significant impact on agriculture and may even be helping to make a reality of the African Union's 2063 Vision of a "transformed continent".

The report's editor, Dr Harold Elletson, said:

"African agriculture is changing. It is steadily becoming more efficient. Much of the change is happening at the level of the smallholder farmer and it is being driven by the increased use of ICTs, which are helping to boost yields, increase choice and improve living standards.

"Our survey shows that people working in the agriculture and food sector realise how useful ICTs can be. They are bringing new solutions to a whole range of farming problems - for example, promoting more efficient irrigation methods or better livestock management and even encouraging the development of self-sustaining funding solutions. ICTs are making a massive contribution to growth in African agriculture and, as this sector still employs nearly 70 per cent of the workforce, it is very significant in terms of making a reality of the African Union's vision of a transformed continent."

To read more, Growing use of ICT in agriculture helping to "transform Africa" 

Adapted from Business Ghana

Virtual toolbox empowers sheep and goat farmers with information

With demand for their meat, milk and fiber growing, sheep and goats offer an appealingly solid return on investment, particularly for beginning, small-scale and limited-resource farmers. But there is a lot to learn, so success can be a challenge. "Information is power. You can make a lot of mistakes if you don't under stand small ruminants," says Linda Coffey, a National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) specialist.

Now, farmers and Extension educators have an expansive new resource available to them in theSmall Ruminant Toolbox. The toolbox is a collection of practical, proven materials covering a wide variety of topics, including pasture and herd management, marketing, pest management, qual ity of life and whole-farm sustainability.

Toolbox materials are free to access online or can be purchased on a USB flash drive atwww.sare.org/ruminant-toolbox.

Coffey and a team of sheep and goat specialists created the toolbox through a 2008 Southern SARE grant, with limited distribution of the USB. Due to the toolbox's popularity, NCAT and SARE have now partnered to reissue the USB and post the materials online.

To read more on the benefits of the toolbox, please click on the following link: Virtual toolbox empowers sheep and goat farmers with information

Adapted from The Prairie Star

Small Ruminant Health Superheroes Assemble

If you’re a small ruminant producer, you know that internal parasites present serious challenges to your animals’ health and your farm’s bottom line. But did you know there’s a group working on your behalf to find sustainable methods of controlling these nefarious nematodes? They’re called the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control (ACSRPC). They’re the small ruminant industry’s Justice League, and NCAT’s own Margo Hale, Linda Coffey, and Dave Scott are members.

The ACSRPC is composed of researchers, veterinarians, and educators from across the country, and they come together a few times each year. Representatives from Fort Valley State University, Langston University, Louisiana State University, North Carolina A&T University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Missouri, University of Arkansas, and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) attended the meeting, as well as two consultants/educators who have sheep operations in northwest Arkansas.

Members reported on their research into ways to control anthelmintic resistant worms, including bioactive forages, various forage/parasite trials, and genetic and breeding values. They also discussed new research needs and ideas.  The group outlined training modules and videos that will incorporate parasite management into a holistic small ruminant production outreach plan.

Adapted from the National Center for Appropriate Technology

Campaign to inspire farmers to use ICT

Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID), Grameenphone and Department of Agricultural Extension yesterday launched a campaign to promote ICT-enabled e-Krishok services in agriculture.

The campaign, Smart Farmer, Smart Future, targets young farmers to help improve livelihood by positioning agriculture as a distinct profession and highlighting the benefits of mobile and internet services in agriculture, Grameenphone said in a statement.

Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangla-desh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and Nazrul Islam Khan, ICT secretary, attended the launch at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council auditorium in Dhaka. The campaign will reach out to 100,000 farmers.

As many as 100 winners will be selected through the competition to generate ideas on how mobile phones and the internet can help increase their income.

BIID launched the e-Krishok campaign in 2008 in 10 locations and transformed it into a service proposition in 2010. Later it was spread to 350 upazilas in collaboration with Grameenphone, Katalyst and ACI Ltd.

Adapted from the DailyStar.net 

ICT initiative in agricutlure to strengthen extension

A week long training programme titled "master trainers training programme on ICT initiative in agriculture", began in the e-extension centre at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here today. 

The program is under the Mega National Agricultural Development Project-Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (NADP-RKVY) entitled "Invigorating Extension strengthen through ICT initiative", with a financial outlay of Rs 250 lakh for a period of three years from 2014 to 2017. 

The training mainly focuses on farm crop management, Kisan SMS, video-conferencing and social media networkring for the technology retrieval and accesibility.

To read more, ICT initiative in agricutlure to strengthen extension 

Adapted from Business Standard

Information technology and agriculture

As we get ready for the Asean Economic Integration that starts next year, it is critical that we make full use of information technology to promote agriculture development.

Since my doctorate was on technology transfer, I have been following closely the way in which electronic media have been used to achieve this objective.

I will review here some of the ICT gains in agriculture and make three recommendations to build on these gains.

Models

Knowing that most poor farmers do not have the money for computers but instead use mobile phones, the PhilRice Text Center (PTC) conveys technology tips to farmers by text. It also uses this mechanism to find out their problems. It asks: “How are your rice plants?

In Northern Luzon, 213 out of 540 farmers reported problems. They were mostly on pest management, nutrient deficiency, and water availability. Using this information, PTC texted back suggestions to address them.

Dulcie Cruz from Sultan Kudarat texted: “Information we get through this service guides us in deciding what to plant this season.” Federico Billares from South Cotabato reported: “I received a reply only after a few seconds.”

There are other agriculture ICT mechanisms.

There are websites that contain valuable information such as www.palay.aralan.com. YouTube tutorials, such as on how to develop a honeybee livelihood enterprise, are available. Electronic centers (E-centers) are established in other parts of the country, such as the Albay E-center that was recently cited for its assistance to barangay communities.

Of special mention is the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (Opapa). It won an AGFUND International prize for pioneering human development. More specifically, Opapa’s entry “highlighted its various ICT interventions that connect lowly rice farmers to reliable sources of information and encouraged collaborative learning among rice scientists, extension workers, farmers, and other concerned organizations.”

To read more, Information technology and agriculture

Adapted from INQUIRER.NET