PAMPANGA – Could farmers with cellular phones be key to improving the speed and reliability of crop production forecasts? This is the subject of an ongoing pilot exercise being conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project is assessing the potential of SMS-based crowdsourcing technologies to strengthen agricultural market information systems.

“Timely crop forecasts are vital in addressing food price volatility, which has strong implications on the economy and is very closely tied to issues such as hunger and poverty,” said FAO Representative in the Philippines José Luis Fernández.

Crowdsourcing, a method of gathering information or resources from a crowd of people through the use of technological platforms, offers vast opportunities to improve the flow of information but has been largely untapped by the agriculture sector.

As an agricultural country where mobile technologies have deeply penetrated even the most remote areas, FAO sees the Philippines as an ideal location to test how effectively farm-level, real-time information could be collected through SMS or text messaging. The information would then aid the preparation of crop production forecasts that can serve as a basis for planning and policymaking.

Control group

Nearly 300 rice farmers in Pampanga have joined the control group and are sending text messages containing real-time information on standing crops, production area and volume, and other growing conditions such as irrigation.

PSA then consolidates and processes the data using a computerized Crowdsourcing Data Collection and Quality Control System (CrowdSS) that automatically computes the quarterly rice forecast.

“The study is going well so far and participating farmers are equally enthusiastic in this new method of data gathering. The potential of this project is very promising as it gives a glimpse of how modern statistics can facilitate the exchange of reliable, relevant and accurate information with anyone through every means possible,” explained Reynaldo Vallesteros, Supervising Statistical Specialist of PSA.

The testing phase for palay [paddy rice] production is expected to conclude in June 2017, and will provide adequate information on the feasibility and cost-benefit ratio of using crowdsourcing in agriculture.

“At the end of this study, we hope to find that the system works and proves to be the solution we have been looking for. The end goal is increase access to adequate information that can help avoid breakdowns in the food value chain. Addressing food needs and maintaining normal market behavior also requires knowing the expected availability of produce in a country. The result of this exercise will not only help the Philippines but also other countries that are seeking to find new ways of enhancing their forecasting processes,” Fernández added.

The FAO-PSA project is part of a larger multi-country FAO programme funded by the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation entitled “Strengthening Agricultural Market Information Systems globally and in selected countries using innovative methods and digital technology.”