With the new updated version of the RCM, a training entitled “Harnessing Modern Advisory Service to Rice Farming: A Training on Rice Crop Manager 4.0” was conducted last April 11-13, 2023 at Ilob Inn, Poblacion, Banaue, Ifugao with a total of 31 AEWs from CAR.
Rice Crop Manager (RCM) has blended digital technology and robust scientific research to generate a nutrient and crop management recommendation specific to a farmer’s field that is, if followed, will boost yields and incomes. It aims to provide farmers with a field-specific crop and nutrient management recommendation for their rice field through a one-page printout and text messages to the farmer’s phone.
With the new upgrade, RCM is now upgraded to version 4.0 which included advisory services not only collect data on rice farmers and their fields and provide precise, field–specific recommendations but also include farmer and farm lot registration, geo-referencing of farm lots, generation and printing of farmer ID cards, sending of auto-generated text messages to farmers’ mobile phone numbers, and farm monitoring to complement RCM and further increase benefits to farmers.
Mr. Melfer Gaspar, Agriculturist II of the DA-RFO-CAR serves as the resource person on the Measuring Farm Lot using GPS, Uploading GPX files in RCMAS and Troubleshooting Guides, SSNM and RCM, and RCMAS Troubleshooting. Ms. Resley Ann Sumedca, the Project Officer, tackled Integrated Pest Management: Concepts and Principles, and Digital Applications for Rice Production such as the Binhing Palay App, LCC App, Rice Doctor, and SPIDTECH. Mr. Ian Jade V. Watawat, Technical Support Staff from the Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit (PMEU) of ATI-RTC-CAR shared and discussed the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Tool for 4DFarms.
Brent Atew, AEW from OPag, Benguet said that “In doing geotagging, I learned that we need to pause. This training is good because we, as AEWs, need to be refreshed with this update. At least we learned about the offline and online versions. We hope to integrate all this digital information into one since we all have the same goal, to geotag all the areas of our farmers. Honestly, we already started, but upon attending this training, we need tracks to be able to upload in the RCM system, so we are hoping that the other programs be integrated to come up with one holistic program to implement.”
