CRISP - Rubber Board

Agriculture has undergone tremendous transformation in the past decades, shifting from a subsistence mode to more of a business mode. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a critical role in this transformation. Smallholders continue to be the backbone of the sector and the development of adaptable and affordable technologies and devices has increased ICT’s relevance to smallholder agriculture. Comprehensive Rubber Information System Portal developed as a Mobile App is a powerful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool with great potential to transform the way extension and advisory services are delivered. It brings all recommendations and advisories for cultivation and other related information to the fingertips of rubber growers. RS and GIS techniques are successfully employed for precision agriculture/farming and site specific management. Precision farming support sustainable rubber cultivation with less impact on environment. Such techniques will improve productivity, reduce cost of cultivation and sustain soil health. Publicly available global data sets like remote sensing imagery, weather and other site characteristics are brought to the same platform for better decision making. For developing CRISP, Publicly available global data sets like remote sensing imagery, weather and other site characteristics were brought to the same platform by RS and GIS. Satellite-derived rubber area maps were developed based on Sentinel 2A/2B (European Space Agency, MSI 10m). Information on rubber area in the different elevation and slope was developed by analysing the satellite-derived rubber area with elevation and slope (generated using ASTER digital elevation model (Earth explorer, USGS). Soil depth of rubber growing regions was geospatially analysed and area under rubber according to different soil depth was generated. Soil fertility maps and rubber soil Information System (RubSIS) for online fertilizer recommendation for rubber growing soils was brought to the platform for site specific fertilizer management. Landslide susceptibility of rubber plantations and good agricultural practices to be adopted for landslide prone areas were integrated. Site specific recommendations like suitable clones for each region and elevation, planting systems and spacing to be adopted based on slope of the area, size of planting pits based on soil depth and suitable intercrops for the region based on slope are integrated in the platform. Recommendations and advisories on other agricultural practices like disease management, harvesting and processing are brought to the platform. GPS co-ordinates of Rubber Producers Societies (RPS), group processing centers (GPC), nurseries, regional offices etc were collected and converted to shapefile and integrate in CRISP for easy access of information to the various stakeholders.