A newly optimized digital agriculture application for improved crop and farm data management to benefit Filipino rice farmers and agricultural extension workers.
After years of continuous improvement, design thinking, and user-focused approach, Rice Crop Manager Advisory Service (RCMAS) soft launched its optimized version as RCMAS 4.0 on 16 July 2021 through the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture’s (DA) website (https://rcm.da.gov.ph/). This version integrates all of the RCMAS component tools and services into one application that is accessible for trained users with or without internet connectivity and interoperable with other DA digital platforms. With RCMAS 4.0, integrated processes were designed for an improved user experience. It is now available for online and offline use.
In 2013, the web-based application called Rice Crop Manager (RCM), the core of RCMAS, was developed and disseminated for agricultural extension use across the country. RCM aims to provide farmers with a field-specific crop and nutrient management recommendation for their rice fields through a one-page printout and text messages to the farmer’s phone. With the dynamic nature of digital technologies and continuous adaptation for the Philippine context, in 2015 RCMAS began to address these challenges for rice-based farming in the country.
RCMAS 4.0 combines the following services: 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.
“The Department of Agriculture, together with its partner agencies (PhilRice, ATI, and DA-ICTS) and in close collaboration with IRRI for the development of the applications, is pleased to announce the soft launching of RCMAS version 4.0 on the DA website. This shift from being IRRI-managed to becoming DA-hosted is a major milestone in the final transition phase of the RCM project, making RCMAS an integral part of the DA program towards Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita,” said Bernadette F. San Juan, Director of the Field Operations Service (FOS) of DA.
San Juan added, “We hope that the inter-agency partnership and joint efforts that made this transition possible would continue to benefit the Filipino farmers in the most effective and efficient way. Congratulations!”
RCMAS 4.0 Android version can be downloaded from the Google Playstore starting 1 August.