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 "We don't know anymore how and when to grow," said Sousa, a family
farmer who plants about 30 hectares (74 acres) of maize in the north
of Minas Gerais state, which lies within a semi-arid region of
Brazil.
Changes in weather patterns linked to climate change are challenging
the traditional knowledge of family farmers in Brazil, particularly
those in traditionally dry areas of nine northern states, where land
is used mainly to grow subsistence amounts of maize, rice, beans and
cassava.
But help may be on the way. This season, Sousa will take a new ally
to the field with him: a smartphone app. Used as a sort of in-field
diary, it will record what is planted and when, how much fertilizer
is used, geographical data about the field, photos and other
details.
A few hundreds kilometers away, in São José dos Campos, in São Paulo
state, scientists receive the data in real time. The information
produced by Sousa and other family farmers will feed a new system
designed to monitor the risk of crop failure in Brazilian semi-arid
areas.
“There is no such monitoring being done in real time, with
information coming directly from the producer,” said Ana Paula Cunha,
a researcher at National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of
Natural Disasters (Cemaden).
The center, together with Applied Systems Analysis and the National
Institute of Science and Technology, developed the app called
Agrisupport.
With the help of farmers, scientists at Cemaden say they will be
able to predict up to two months in advance whether the semi-arid
region faces a risk of crop failure.
Alongside the information from farmers, researchers will rely on
measurements of humidity, temperature, wind and solar radiation
coming from monitoring equipment installed in nine states.
Those will be fed into mathematical models that researchers run on
the institute’s computers, and turned into forecasts for farmers and
others in Brazil.
"We want to provide information about the crop productivity loss for
all municipalities of the semi-arid region,” said Regina Alvalá, a
coordinator at Cemaden. The first report is expected to be available
by the end of 2016.
PLANNING FOR PAYOUTS
The forecasts are expected to be particularly important for the
federal government. Since 2003, Brasilia has offered financial
compensation for family farmers from semi-arid regions who lose at
least 50 percent of their crop. This type of insurance is known as
“crop-guarantee”.
"For the decision maker, information on the risk of crop failure is
vital because it is possible to have a better view of how much will
be paid for insurance," Alvalá said.
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"But the information is also relevant to the producer,” she said.
"For example, if a farmer wants to extend the planted area but the
forecast shows the weather conditions won´t be good enough for the
type of crop raised, the farmer can save the seeds.”
According to government data, around 63,000 family farmers applied
for crop-guarantee insurance payouts last year. The government
provides 850 Brazilian reais (around $215) per producer, paid in
five installments. But many farmers complain the amount is too low
and doesn’t cover their costs.
Access to the Agrisupport app could be another way of cutting farmer
losses in dry areas. Reinaldo Oliveira, an agronomist at Technical
Assistance and Rural Extension (Emater), a state agency, is working
directly with farmers to help them use the tool.
“The mobile phone is already used by family farmers on a daily
basis. But to send information through the app it’s also important
to have a good internet connection, which is not always possible in
some regions,” he said.
Still, farmers able to send through a photo of a crop pest, for
instance, can get feedback on what do about it in as little as a few
minutes, Oliveira said.
Sousa has already tested the app. Besides providing information
about what he’s planning to grow and how much of it, he will also
report on his harvest and receive advice on how to take better care
of his crop.
"I think this application will help small farmers to organize
themselves better. We shall know in advance which is the best time
to start planting. This information can help us to save money,"
Sousa said.
(Reporting by Nadia Pontes; editing by Laurie Goering :; Please
credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson
Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women's
rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
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