Agriculture Extension Tools

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Agriculture Extension Tools
Computers and Community Radio
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Outline

• SimCorn A Software Designed to Support
  Site-Specific Nutrient Management for Farmers of
  Small Parcels in the Tropics
• Rural Radio in Agricultural Extension The
  Example of vernacular Radio Programmes on Soil
  and Water Conservation in N. Ghana.
• Discussion

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SimCorn the problem

• Farmers receiving incorrect information about how
  much fertilizer to use
• Times of Crisis
• High Demand
• Bandwagon effect
• Farmers prosper or fail as a group
• Blanket Fertilization
• Many types of soil, but everybody uses the same
  amounts/types

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SimCorn the goals

• Precision Agriculture
• Empower farmers
• Field identification of soils (software/farmer)
• Test kit that farmers could use to test soil for
  nutrients (farmer)
• Decision-aid (this paper) (software)
• Help farmers determine proper amounts of
  different fertilizers to use

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SimCorn how decision-aid works

• Soil property table
• Allows users to identify soil series based on
  observations taken in the field
• Provides a color photograph to verify soil series
• Soil test kit information table
• Allows users to enter information obtained from
  soil test kits
• Results
• Provides the most economical blend of available
  fertilizer materials
• Tables hard coded into software
• Ensures maximum speed (important?)
• Difficult to update

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SimCorn
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SimCorn

• Implemented on both handheld and desktop
  computers
• Desktop more useful because more extension
  workers have access to a computer
• Handheld more handy
• Software is used by extension officers
• Not farmers?

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SimCorn - results

• Higher standard of living for the farmers
• Reduction of their indebtedness
• Survey of 338 farmers
• Yields higher in most cases
• Generally, amount recommended by software was
  different (higher or lower) than current
  application rates.
• Farmers who used site-specific management had a
  reduction in profit
• Farmers who did not use site-specific management
  had a loss

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SimCorn - results
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SimCorn problem solved?

• Empowering Farmers?
• Making them rely on Extension workers?
• Literacy?
• Centrally located Computers vs. Handhelds
• Distributed System vs. Hard Coding
• Computers right tool?