Paper presented at the 52nd CFCS Annual Meeting, Guadeloupe, July 10-16, 2016
AGRIMAPS: USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT REGIONAL CROP PRODUCTION René Jordan², Gaius Eudoxie¹, Kiran Maharaj², Renaldo Belfon³ and Margaret Bernard² ¹Department of Food Production, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago ²Department of Computing and Information Technology, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago ³School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Canada Keywords: Mobile Applications, Precision Agriculture, Tropical Agriculture Abstract Farmers often have limited contact with extension personnel in many Caribbean countries due to human resource limitations and the geographically disaggregated nature of farming communities. The Caribbean has one of the highest levels of mobile phone penetration in the world and we developed the AgriMaps mobile application to help farmers and horticulturalists make crop management decisions using an online platform. This app uses weather and soil data to assess the suitability of individual sites to a range of crops and provides recommendations to improve soil productivity. This technology can be adopted by all territories given the recent expansion of internet coverage in the region. This may help increase crop production and food security in the region by encouraging the participation of youth in agriculture as demonstrated by its acceptance by the farming community in Trinidad and Tobago. Thus, we provide the theoretical and technical underpinnings of this application to facilitate its expansion to other Caribbean territories. Materials and methods Secondary data was used for the development of the app. All base map data was derived from Open Street Maps while all other data (rivers, soil series, roads, contours, rainfall and land use) was collected by the Department of Geomatics and Land Management at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Data on dominant soils was verified using the Land Capability Survey of Trinidad and Tobago (Brown and Bally, 1970) while rainfall data was compiled by the Department of Food Production with assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services. Note that recommendations provided for individual crops may also apply to the associated crop family. This list of crops is made up of those earmarked for agricultural investment and other popular crops cultivated for the local market. The list was informed by the National Food Action Plan (Ministry of Food Production, 2012). Crop profiles were developed for selected crops by identifying soil and environmental conditions considered ideal for growth. This data was sourced from long-term agronomic studies and included pH, EC, root depth, temperature, irrigation requirements and ideal soil texture (Ebusu, 2004; Brady et al., 1996; Weaver and Bruner, 1927; Lerner, 2001; Pettygrove et al., 1999). Crop pro- files were compared to local soil and climatic data to determine if sites were within the defined ranges for each plant. Mitigative soil management practices were also proposed in cases where condi- tions fell outside the required range. Main results Information Communication and Technology (ICT) tools have been used in the agricultural sector of Trinidad and Tobago over the years. Radio, television, paper-based books and maps have transitioned to emails, discussion forums, virtual maps and land information online (Ganpat et al., 2009). What is presently avail- able in Trinidad and Tobago is a range of e-extension web-based tools; virtual libraries, online learning software, electronic mailing lists (e.g. listservs), discussion forums, blogs and virtual libraries among others (Renwick, 2012). Though useful, the need for more effective technologies is important. AgriMaps is a virtual e- Extension officer which automatically personalizes details to match the needs of the user. It is an application which provides extension services to producers in an accessible way while fortifying the resource bank of those mandated to provide this service. The benefits of the AgriMaps application resides in its usefulness for farm management and agricultural planning. Direct benefits can be gained by producers, who are now empowered with the ability to make soil and crop management decisions based on analytical data, specific to their farms. The app can also provide information for agricultural planning and policy such that limited land resources can be better used. AgriMaps can be applied to any country with georeferenced edaphic and climate data. The main challenge, however, is the acquisition of relevant and correct spatial and agricultural data. To mitigate this challenge, an Open Data GeoNode platform was created - http://maps.tt/. Here a mechanism is provided for stakeholders to upload and display data freely. The platform is governed by a Creative Commons License. Such a mechanism is a precursor to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) enabled by the National Spatial Development Strategy (NSDS) which will over time provide a readily accessible central spatial data repository, hosted and managed by the Trinidad and Tobago government (Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development, 2013). Linking data acquisition to the NSDI will assist in the management of issues related to accuracy and availability such that any data accessed can be trusted. Another major challenge is the widespread adoption and use of The app. Many older farmers do not have smart phones and, in many cases, are not technology savvy. The AgriNeTTi team has worked with
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