An ICT-based application that can analyze crop needs from planting to post-harvest while mitigating the effects of climate change was the grand winner in the 3rd AgriHackathon, an application development competition held at PhilRice, March 24-25.
Called Crop++, the application was developed by IT students from Central Luzon State University.
The application can monitor the current temperature and humidity of a farm area through a temperature sensor. It can also detect movements within the area and capture photos to identify the presence of pests. Its soil moisture sensor is used for water sufficiency for better resource management.
The collected information are then analyzed and interpreted by a web-based information system and monitored through a computer.
The developers (Jerome Rivera, Angeliko Sevilla, Aliyah Ventanilla with their coach, Mike Christian Gragasin) hope that this technology will help farmers be efficient in their farm management, crop production, and eventually increase their yield.
“We invited students to crowdsource ideas on ICT for agriculture and with the expertise of our researchers at PhilRice, we can package the applications to suit the needs of our target clients,” said Jovino De Dios, head of PhilRice’s Information Systems Division.
The developers won a 5-month internship program worth P225,000, P30,000 worth of supplies to improve and expand their prototype, and a cash prize worth P10,000. Winning applications from the first two Agrihackathon events have been turned into projects, which are being used in PhilRice’s researches.
“This initiative aims to ensure that ideas from the academe are not only kept as research papers in schools but are also applied in the real world for the future of our country’s agriculture sector,” said Nehemiah Caballong, PhilRice ICT expert.
Students from Cagayan State University and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology also joined in the competition organized by PhilRice’s FutureRice Program, Information Systems Division, and Project IPaD.
