Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology has been continuously developing projects that can be used by the community directly in their efforts to realise their goal of becoming an Entrepreneurial University.
According to a recent press release, one of the lecturers at the University’s Meteorology study program developed Android-based rice planting calendar application.
The situation of the farmers
The Agribusiness Smart Information System (SICA) application was able to lend a helping hand to the farmers in Indramayu so that they can overcome losses brought about by crop failure in the previous years.
Research teams from both the Ministry of Agriculture and the University discovered that the total losses of farmers in Indramayu have reached US$ 33.9 million (IDR 478.8 billion) per planting season due to failure in planting.
Per year, the amount of losses reached US$ 67.7 million (IDR 957.6 billion).
Overcoming losses through application
Through the app, the farmers can now predict the perfect timing to carry out all the different stages of agricultural activities.
These activities include planting, fertilising and harvesting.
The SICA application was developed after a model called the Smart Climate Model. This predicts the monthly weather per month for the next five years.
The app predictions were improved and made more precise to the needs requested by the farmers.
The application had guided the farmers in identifying the exact hours, days and months that they should do the planting, the fertilising, and the harvesting.
It will run dynamically by overlaying between the dasarian (ten days) rainfall predictions results with a web mapping service found on the server.
Aside from the planting calendar, the app also features weather prediction, climate prediction, feedback feature allowing users to enter disaster reports in their villages, as well as market information feature.
This market information feature connects the farmers to buyers, thereby making it easier for them to sell their crops.
Ease of use
There is also a web version of the app, which was developed before the smartphone version.
The Android app was developed upon the request of the farmers. It is very easy to use. Children of the farmers can even participate and help their elderly use the app.
This may encourage the children to continue the farming legacy in the future.
Initially, the app was distributed freely to Indramayu farmers, together with tablets, so that they can operate directly.
At present, there are seven million Indonesians who are using the application in order to improve their production.
Moreover, the app is being commercially traded since it is attracting agricultural companies.
Additionally, SICA will also be developed in several other Indonesian agricultural centres such as Sumatra, Kalimantan, Central Java, East Java, Karawang, and Merauke.
Neighbouring countries like Timor Leste are also interested in using the SICA application.
