First Demo Plot Being Prepared in SpiceUp Project
The first demonstration plot is being prepared within the SpiceUp project in Indonesia. The demo plot will function both as a display of Good Agricultural Practices for farmers in pepper plantations, as well as a test farm for the online SpiceUp platform before it is launched to the public.
The demonstration plot is an area of around 1 Ha in Namang Village, Bangka Island. The plot is dedicated to the application of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for pepper farming. The process of pepper planting in the demo plot starts with the initial phase of land clearing, seed preparation and finally planting. There will also be other demo plots developed in the other provinces in which SpiceUp is active.
Aside from the demo plots, SpiceUp will also assist selected farmers (“champion farmers”) to start complying with GAP. It is expected that with the good practices adopted by the champion farmers, together with the demo plot results, SpiceUp will be able to show other farmers how to grow pepper with efficient inputs and increased yields.
About SpiceUp
SpiceUp is a Public Private Partnership project which aims to provide geodata based information services to support 100,000 pepper farmers in Indonesia. In this way the farmers can increase production, income, food security and reduce their inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides. Four information services will be provided via an SMS service and Mobile App:
1. Drought/Irrigation Advice;
2. Fertilizer Advice;
3. Good Agricultural Practices Advice; and
4. Sustainable Tracing System/Market information.
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Geodata for Agriculture and Water
SpiceUp is part of the broader Geodata for Agriculture and Water program (G4AW) of the Netherlands Space Office, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ICCO is currently the consortium lead for two G4AW programs in South East Asia – Indonesia (SMARTseeds) and Vietnam (GREENcoffee) – both of which have been running since 2016. Also ICCO has been participating in GEOPOTATO in Bangladesh (start 2015).