Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service

Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service

RCM Advisory Service is a web-based platform that consolidates Rice Crop Manager and complementary decision-making tools and services into one integrated advisory and information service for rice-based farming in the Philippines.

The core of the RCM Advisory Service is Rice Crop Manager, which provides farmers with a personalized crop and nutrient management recommendation for rice fields through a one-page printout and text messages to the phone of the farmer. The RCM Advisory Service combines Rice Crop Manager with additional tools and services aiming to reduce production costs, increase yields, increase net income, and facilitate a professional extension service deploying appropriate information at correct times to farmers through information and communications technology (ICT). These additional tools and services include:

• Field registration to facilitate a determination by Global Positioning System (GPS) of the area of each field and then to help adjust inputs such as fertilizer to match the exact field area,
• Farmer registration to facilitate the issuance of an RCM farmer ID card providing access to historical information on the fields and farming practices of the farmer,
• Farmer registration to receive text messages with reminders for recommended farming practices and additional information from the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA),
• Selection of a rice variety matching recommendations by DA and the traits of a variety preferred by a farmer, and
• Monitoring of RCM farmers after harvest to determine a farmer’s actual practices in the cropping season and the farmer’s uptake of the RCM recommendation.