Sarawak Forestry Corporation’s implemented a new initiative called GeoDrone to enhance its forest management activities, including monitoring and enforcement. Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Chief Minister of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg declared: “The new drone initiative will help us to monitor the development of our forestry sector, which is important to Sarawak’s economy and contributes a lot of revenue". He also promised support to the SFC if it decided to equip the drones with the latest technology available, such as sensors to transmit...
ICTs have a huge potential in imporving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the developing world, especially in the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). ICTs can give access to market and weather information, allow farmers to transfer money and negotiate prices with traders. Moreover, the use of mobile phones is rapidly incresing. But some obstacles remain, such as poor network connectivity in rural areas, non-existing information, or lack of technology knowledge by potential users. This article summarizes seven ICT4Ag projects developed in the context of CTA's ICT4Ag...
The G7 ICT Ministers met in Turin, Italy for two days on 25-26 September 2017. The talks focused on openness, security and the support for innovation through the empowerment of small and medium companies. The Ministers acknowledged the fact that the technologic transformation has the potential for farreaching effects to productivity, employment, skills, economic growth, trade, well-being and the environment. Talks then focused on areas such as artificial intelligence, datafication and innovation, and the experts came up with recommendations to educate politicians, faith leaders, opinion...
Harvesting is a Silicon Valley based growing startup driving financial inclusion for farmers. Harvesting uses cutting edge remote sensing & machine learning based approach to help large financial institutions lend small farm holders. Harvesting is now looking for a full time remote sensing scientist to join its growing team and drive its mission. Requirements: Degree in physical geography/Geomatics or allied fields Must have done extensive research on cropland monitoring, crop yield models, crop type detection in Semi-arid regions, which is published in reputed publication Must have...
In Kenya, in the region of Turkana County, a severe drought is threatening people's livelihoods and livestock. Agricultural production is close to none as the rainy season going from March to June remained a vain hope. The nearest borehole is sometimes walking days away and not all of the population is fit enough to make it, so many were forced to relocate. However, Turkana County happens to have a large source of ground water. The problem is that if a well breaks, the reparation time is too long. Repairs used to come after a notification through mobile phone, but the majority of villagers...
This announcement is as originally announced on AIMS AGRIS team at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) takes this opportunity to inform all interested parties that in September 2017 AGRIS has exceeded the threshold of 9 million records ! (9,025,192 records). AGRIS team continues to work on consolidating the AGRIS (INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR THE AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) platform and its services to provide better access and visibility to the information resources that are being disseminated through AGRIS. AGRIS content (which comes from than...
ICTs in agriculture have a huge potential: they can increase agricultural yields or help farmers get a fairer price for their produce. Farmers now have access to farm mapping, weather data, marketing tools, financial credit, advice from extension workers, and social networks thanks to SMS applications, mobile banking and satellite data. However, there are some limits to the reach of ICTs in rural areas: poor internet connectivity, high illiteracy rates and the inability of pilot projects to go to scale due to the lack of long-term funding or not having measures for their sustainability. This...
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has recently published the issue Number 186 of Spore magazine , which focuses on Big data and climate insurance: Redusing risks and maximizing revenues. Spore Magazine aims to give the reader a global perspective on agribusiness and agricultural development. The topics covered in this issue include the role of ICTs in enhancing agricultural productivity, creating jobs and increasing incomes for young farmers, and the role of ICTs in climate smart agriculture and early warning systems. The following articles are of interest:...
Turning Data into Decisions in AgriFood Date Wednesday 22 November 2017 Location SCI, London, UK Description Harnessing the power of Big Data to generate new insights, practices and products is one of the key priorities of today's AgriFood supply chain. Numerous sensors and connected devices are...
In this blog post, Ajit Maru describes all the requirements an ICT product has to have to be usable for the farmer: the hardware, the software, connectivity, skills, content, security and safety in use, privacy and a profitable and productive environment. But, he points out, some problems can rise up: for example, in many countries women are frowned upon or even prohibited to have a smartphone. Another problem is the cost: for a smallholder farmer in India earning about INR 60.000 per year, a smartphone costs no less than INR 5.000, and connectivity costs around INR 100 per month. According...
Turning Data into Decisions in AgriFood Date Wednesday 22 November 2017 Location SCI, London, UK Description Harnessing the power of Big Data to generate new insights, practices and products is one of the key priorities of today's AgriFood supply chain. Numerous sensors and connected devices are...