DA creates app for rice management

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has created an Android application for rice crop management to improve efficiency and knowledge of farmers in the sector.

DA-attached agency Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has developed the AgriDOC application, a farm management tool for Android smartphones and tablets intended for local rice farmers, researchers and extension workers.

Apart from improving efficiency of farm management and rice crop production activities, the application aims to show, particularly to the younger generation, that rice farming can be exciting, modern and attractive.

“Aside from farm management assistance, the AgriDOC app also provides information and knowledge links to help users make informed decisions on the care of their rice crops,” PhilRice said.

Among its features include  simple record keeping where users can keep information about their farm activities and expenses then categorize them to major farming operations.

It also features geo-visualization that will allow users to view their farms through satellite images provided by Google Maps and allot boundaries and label them for easy identification.

The AgriDOC app provides task scheduling that will allow users to get regular reminders of their activities in the calendar view.

Through its rice crop insights, the app informs the user about the priority needs and concerns of rice plants for every crop age and growth stage.

“It contains basic recommendations on rice crop management practices from the palay check system, and comprehensive information about released rice varieties. It also provides links to rice knowledge banks and other useful websites,” the agency said.

While the application can function even without an internet connection, PhilRice said it remains a work in progress and user feedback is recommended for further improvements.

The development of the app began in 2015 under the Future Rice program, where the use of high technology smart farming is being integrated with natural farming to address the typical problems in the rice industry.