First Soil Tests Carried out in SpiceUp Project
Within the SpiceUp project we make use of New Technologies; farmers receive information by SMS and mobile app on fertilizer, disease prevention, irrigation and more. In order to be able to provide farmers with accurate advice on which fertilizer to use, soil tests are a necessary step. The first soil tests have now been carried out.
In order to give good fertilizer advice, it is necessary to know the exact nutrients contained in the soil and in the plant itself. Therefore soil tests have been carried out. These soil tests started with collecting soil samples in selected SpiceUp areas with two layers of depth (0-30 cm and 30-60 cm). The soil samples were then measured in IBP’s Soil Lab to identify both macro and micro nutrients.
The results from these soil tests will be used for fertilizer recommendations provided to farmers, including recommendations on the dosage of fertilizer and when to apply it.
SpiceUp project and New Technologies
The SpiceUp project 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. Watch the video to see more about our G4AW programs: Indonesia (SMARTseeds). Also ICCO has been participating in GEOPOTATO in Bangladesh (start 2015).