Online Crop Management Support Platform

Executive Summary

Agricultural systems globally, and especially in Latin America, must sustainably increase crop production (60%) and consider the possible effects of climate change (CC). This has driven the need for sustainable intensification of agriculture. Farmers must produce more with the same amount of land and using fewer inputs. This transition is both possible and necessary for food security. However, digital systems need to be developed with tools and information based on scientific knowledge to facilitate the decision-making of farmers and advisors of the main productive systems. This proposal aims to increase the productivity and sustainability of production systems through a free online platform to support decision-making in agronomic management in the context of CC.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Austral University of Chile (Chile), the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), the University of the Republic (Uruguay), and the National University of Agriculture (Honduras) will participate in the proposal. The components that will be executed are i) increase crop adaptation to CC through the use of phenological prediction models to select cultivars and sowing dates in the study regions, ii) identify management strategies to reduce both yield gaps and carbon footprints (kg CO2eq/ton) of farming systems in the study regions, iii) generate management strategies in response to CC through the application of crop simulation models in the study regions and iv ) transfer and disseminate the results of the project to farmers, advisors and students in the study regions. Farmers, professionals, technicians, and students related to crops in each country will receive training in the use of the platform and its contents, which will be free of charge and available on the website of the participating institutions.

The technological solution

This proposal aims to create an online support platform for crop management, freely accessible with information to assist farmers and advisors in decision-making. The main objective of this proposal is to increase productivity and sustainability of productive systems through a free online platform supporting agronomic management decision-making for the main crops of the southern cone in the context of climate change.

Beneficiaries

The direct final beneficiaries are small and medium producers in Argentina, Chile, Honduras, and Uruguay, who will have access to free online tools for agronomic decision-making. This includes the 223 CREA groups (https://www.crea.org.ar/regiones-y-grupos-crea/), distributed in 19 regions of Argentina, comprising 2,676 producers, the 37 AAPRESID regionals comprising 1,253 members (https://www.aapresid.org.ar/archivos/memoria-y-balance-2020.pdf), and the 9 FUCREA groups (Uruguay) comprising around 108 agricultural-livestock producers. Additionally, the development of digital tools (e.g. CRONOS Models) benefits over 65,000 registered users, scaling to a larger number of users once the project is concluded.

Sustainable Development Goals

Main donors