Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
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<strong>in</strong>expensive to use, with good network coverage<br />
<strong>in</strong> all rural areas. Yet to date, the only mobilebased<br />
agricultural service <strong>in</strong> use on the isl<strong>and</strong> is<br />
the SMS disease alert, provided by the Agricultural<br />
Research <strong>and</strong> Extension Unit. It sends<br />
SMS messages to registered planters, warn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
when an outbreak of disease threatens a particular<br />
crop. Why stop with plant disease? How<br />
many more services could be offered to farmers<br />
us<strong>in</strong>g mobile phones? What about adapt<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
system to provide <strong>in</strong>formation on the price of<br />
<strong>in</strong>puts, weather updates, good agricultural practices,<br />
animal health <strong>and</strong> husb<strong>and</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> help with<br />
market<strong>in</strong>g agricultural products? A good place<br />
to start would be a database for quality seeds,<br />
so that any farmer want<strong>in</strong>g a particular seed<br />
would only have to send a simple SMS to ask<br />
about availability <strong>and</strong> price.<br />
Co-operatives, entrepreneurs <strong>and</strong> sugar planters,<br />
who generally have larger budgets <strong>and</strong> a better<br />
education, could take advantage of more sophisticated<br />
<strong>ICT</strong>s. Farm<strong>in</strong>g software can be used to<br />
record <strong>and</strong> save farm records on computers, help<strong>in</strong>g<br />
producers to plan their farms <strong>and</strong> lower their<br />
production expenses. GPS technology, already<br />
adopted by two sugar estates <strong>in</strong> Mauritius, can be<br />
used to guide tractors <strong>in</strong> auto-pilot mode, cutt<strong>in</strong>g<br />
labour costs <strong>and</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g precision <strong>agriculture</strong> possible.<br />
The Internet can enable farmers to check<br />
market prices <strong>and</strong> weather reports download technical<br />
guides <strong>and</strong> share <strong>in</strong>formation. With a blog or<br />
wiki, farmers can easily <strong>in</strong>teract with each other<br />
<strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d solutions to mutual problems. If the goal<br />
of mak<strong>in</strong>g Mauritius more food secure is to be<br />
achieved, all stakeholders <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> <strong>agriculture</strong><br />
– the public sector, NGOs, research <strong>and</strong> extension<br />
– must make more use of <strong>ICT</strong>s. <strong>ICT</strong>s offer the<br />
chance for them to work together with farmers<br />
<strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d real solutions for Mauritian <strong>agriculture</strong>.<br />
Better book-keep<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Other applications could <strong>in</strong>clude us<strong>in</strong>g the organiser<br />
of a farmer’s mobile phone to keep records<br />
of farm details, such as chemicals used <strong>and</strong> the<br />
date of application. Most small-scale farmers are<br />
notoriously lax about record-keep<strong>in</strong>g. Mobile<br />
phones could also <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong>teraction between<br />
extension services <strong>and</strong> farmers on radio shows.<br />
Farmers could send questions via SMS, prompt<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a dialogue with extension experts about<br />
problems <strong>and</strong> ways to solve them.<br />
Based on the orig<strong>in</strong>al essay:<br />
“Two challenges experienced <strong>in</strong> Mauritius related<br />
to <strong>agriculture</strong> or rural development, <strong>and</strong> the use of<br />
<strong>ICT</strong>s to address them.” by Nawsheen Hosenally Bibi.<br />
Key References<br />
IFAD (2010) Statement by the Honourable S.V.<br />
Faugoo, M<strong>in</strong>ister of Agro Industry, Food Production<br />
<strong>and</strong> Security on the occasion of the<br />
thirty-third session of IFAD’s Govern<strong>in</strong>g Council.<br />
Onl<strong>in</strong>e, accessed December 16, 2011: http://www.<br />
ifad.org/events/gc/33/speech/mauritiu.htm<br />
ORACLE - Th<strong>in</strong>kQuest education foundation<br />
(2010) Agriculture: An overview.<br />
Onl<strong>in</strong>e, accessed December 16, 2011: http://<br />
library.th<strong>in</strong>kquest.org/C0110237/Agriculture_/<br />
<strong>agriculture</strong>_.html<br />
Shap<strong>in</strong>g the future of ACP rural development us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>ICT</strong>s... 19 |