Fertiliser Optimiser App
Lead Research Organisation:
Rothamsted Research
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
unavailable
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrew Neal (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | Fertilizer Optimizer app made publically available. The Fertilizer Optimizer app is easily transferable to intermediaries (such as agronomists and other advisors) and then to farmers through intensified training. Farmers plan the crops they wish to grow and estimate what they can afford to spend on fertilizer. The app then makes suggestions about the most profitable way to apply the fertilizer. The Fertilizer Optimizer works even at very low levels of investment to help farmers to get the best possible returns. The app is designed to help resource-constrained farmers to maximise the return on investment on fertilizer, based on what the farmer can realistically afford. The Fertilizer Optimizer has been produced for: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and is available to use in English, French and Portuguese. Impact stories are reported in blog posts attached to this report. The app was launched in the Google play store in January and it is too soon to discuss impact. Outreach and marketing campaigns will be undertaken by CABI, the responsible partner for this part of the project. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Title | Fertilizer Optimizer App on Google Play Strore |
| Description | The Fertilizer OptimizThe concept behind the CABI Fertilizer Optimizer app is easily transferable to the intermediaries and then to farmers through intensified training. Farmers think about the crops they wish to grow and what they can afford to spend on fertilizer. The app then makes suggestions about the most profitable way to apply the fertilizer. The Fertilizer Optimizer works even at very low levels of investment and help farmers to get the best possible returns."er app is designed to help resource constrained farmers to maximise the return on investment on fertilizer, based on what the farmer can realistically afford. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | CABI is now rolling out a programme of training for additional extension workers on the use of the Fertilizer Optimization Tools (FOT) in with a target to reaching up to 1600 more farmers in Uganda. Across Africa, over 3,000 extension workers have already been empowered to use the FOTs to advise farmers on how to maximise their profits from investments in fertilizers. This is another opportunity to out scale the FOT across Africa. A social media campaign will also be utilised to help promote the mobile app for FOT across 13 African countries - including Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria. |
| URL | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cabi.ofra |
| Title | Fertilizer Optimizer app |
| Description | The original conceptualization and development of the optimization tool was by the university of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jansen J, Wortmann CS, Stockton MC, Kaizzi CK (2013). Maximizing net returns to financially constrained fertilizer use. Agronomy Journal 105 (3) 573-578. The Fertilizer Optimizer tool was built as part of the Optimising Fertilizer Recommendations in Africa (OFRA) project, led by CABI. The project was a partnership between CABI, the University of Nebraska Lincoln, national governments and agricultural research and extension systems in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. OFRA was supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). In this project this spreadsheet-based tool was converted to an Android app and validated against the original spreadsheet version. This included transferring the spreadsheet logic over to an Android app, and providing parameters for crop and the sixty agro-environmental zones. Translation of the interface was completed and as well as English, French and Portuguese are now supported. An upgrade to a mobile phone app now offers farmers across Africa even more benefits and cutting-edge fertilizer use technology. This will help farmers to grow healthier, more productive with increasingly profitable crops, as a result of more informed use of how small amounts of fertilizer impact the crops which they grow. Pilot work on the CABI Fertilizer Optimizer app in Uganda has shown that some farmers realised up to a seven-fold increase in yields. Using funding from the BBSRC Global Challenges Research Fund, the app has now been upgraded to make it easier to use. The new app includes the integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices feature, and a calibration tool which helps farmers to apply the right quantity of fertilizer to their crops. The Fertilizer Optimizer app is designed to help resource constrained farmers to maximise the return on investment on fertilizer, based on what the farmer can realistically afford. In the latest version of the Fertilizer Optimizer app it is possible to calibrate the fertilizer recommendation to the planting conditions of a user's field. Version 1 of the app provided users with an amount of fertilizer to use and an application rate (e.g. 5kg per hectare). Now it is possible to enter field measurements, container sizes and preferred application technique and the app will help to evenly distribute the recommended fertilizers across the crop providing actionable information tailored to a particular field. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The Fertilizer Optimizer has been produced for: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and is available to use in English, French and Portuguese. Impact stories are reported in blog posts attached to this report. The was launched in the Google play store in January and it is too soon to discuss impact. Outreach and marketing campaigns will be undertaken by CABI, the responsible partner for this part of the project. Open Soils Data Platform BBS/OS/GC/200014B We have developed and implemented an Open Soils data Platform that enables the storage and searching of multiple information sources on soils e.g. soil samples and support materials such as reports for sub-Saharan Africa. The platform uses an agreed set of metadata and controlled vocabularies needed for integrating a range of data. Prototype metadata integration for several data collections has been achieved enabling searching of the catalogue for datasets containing related-information on soils information. The architecture developed is easily extensible to other information resources and databases as soon as they become viable http://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/osdp/documents Issues emerged regarding access to data from African sources e.g OFRA but discussions with these and others are ongoing. The continuing objectives are to engage with stakeholders to populate the catalogue with additional datasets so it becomes a valued repository of data for soil health for Africa |
| Description | CABI Blog - Fertilizer Optimization Tool helps return son to teacher training school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The blog explains the impact of using the Fertiliser optimisation App for one farmer and how it improved his family finances. "I wanted to grow 1 acre of maize and ¾ acre of soybean. He gave me various investment scenarios which showed the amount that can be invested and expected yields and income. I decided to invest UGX80,000 (approx. $22). I didn't even have the money but borrowed UGX 40,000 and gave it to him so he could buy me DAP which I applied at planting. Later I gave him the remaining money and he brought Urea which I applied when the maize was at knee high. "I was able to harvest 7 bags of maize and 1 ½ bags of soybean. Before, I used this technology I used to harvest 7 bags of maize from 3 acres (about 1.5 bags per acre) and 70kg soybean per acre. I was very excited to have achieved such an output. I decided to sell part of the soybean to buy fertilizer for this season. This time I planted 4 acres of maize and ¼ acre of groundnuts and invested UGX120,000 (approx. $32) up from UGX80,000 last season. "I was also able to seek admission for my son at Busikho Teachers' Training College, where he is training as a Grade I teacher. I paid 5 bags of maize to the college to cover part of his starting fees. The rest of the harvest I have left for home consumption." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://blog.cabi.org/2018/12/07/fertilizer-optimization-tool-helps-return-son-to-teacher-training-s... |
| Description | CABI Blog - Fertilizer Optimization Tool pays dividends for farmers in Uganda |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The blog was describing a workshop explaining the benefits of the Fertiliser Optimisation tool to a club comprised of five farmer groups, each with about 30 members, who meet weekly. As a club they come together as a whole and meet monthly. During their weekly meetings the farmers take advantage of the opportunity to save and borrow money under the popular co-save program known as Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA). Ultimately this is aimed at enhancing financial inclusion. According to one user "When I was introduced to the Fertilizer Optimization Tool by Mr Mawanda, I only had UGX 50,000 (approx. $13). I told him I cannot use fertilizer because I don't have enough money to buy even one bag of fertiliser. One 50kg bag, alone, is sold at UGX150,000 (approx. $40). "He explained that the tool helps to calculate only the fertiliser I need given the amount to invest. The output showed that I needed to buy 10kg of DAP, and 10kg Urea for my ½ acre of maize. I applied the DAP, one bottle top per hole and Urea in bands. As a result, I harvested 700kg compared to 100kg before (or even sometimes less) from the same area." For farmers who used fertilizer before, their appraisal of the tool was based on its ability to recommend only what is required, therefore, avoiding wastage of fertilizers. The common practice for those using fertilizer has been to procure 50kg of fertilizer, commonly, DAP, Urea or TSP and applying according to their own knowledge. This practice, farmers have realised, has a high investment cost attached to it - yet this cost is not necessarily offset by the added production. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://blog.cabi.org/2018/11/23/fertilizer-optimization-tool-pays-dividends-for-farmers-in-kenya/ |
| Description | CABI Press Release - Phone app set to transform how low-income farmers in Africa invest in fertilizer |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | This is was the press release made to announce the release of the Fertiliser optimisation tool in the Google Play Store |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.cabi.org/news-and-media/2019/phone-app-set-to-transform-how-low-income-farmers-in-africa... |
| Description | Fertiliser Optimisation App - Training and User Testing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | These were training and user feedback sessions on the beta-test version of the Fertiliser Optimisation App... There were a total of 5 sessions held in Uganda. The impact was that future uses (small holder farmers) and advisors were taught about the benefits of the app, they also provided feedback on usability to the UK team in CABI. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |