°AHoRa: Application to improve the management and yield of Musaceae plantations in family farming

The project seeks to improve the planning and decision-making of agronomic practices in Musaceae (plantain and banana) plantations in the face of climate variability focused on family farming in Colombia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.

Context of the story

In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Musaceae have advantages for family farming. National and international demand is growing, and these crops adapt to different agroecological conditions. However, many producers do not consider abiotic factors and climatic variability in their cultivation practices, forgetting key aspects that affect yield. Knowledge about abiotic factors and crop development and greater use of weather stations and devices for data collection and exchange in real-time open up new possibilities for improving crop management and resilience to climate variability.

Mobile application for banana and plantain farmers to improve planning and yield based on weather data

The implemented initiative

This consultancy was financed by FONTAGRO and executed by AGROSAVIA (Colombia), IDIAF (Dominican Republic), the University of PIURA and INIA (Peru). The objective is to generate a web-mobile application to improve planning and decision-making of agronomic practices in musaceae (banana and plantain) plantations in the face of climate variability, with special reference to family farming by producers in Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic. The application is called °AHoRa and is freely available.

Agtech °AHoRa, decision support tool for musaceae crop management

The technological solution

°AHoRa, a web-mobile application based on a calculation platform that takes data (temperature, solar radiation, precipitation and evapotranspiration) from nearby weather stations and converts them into indicators of the productive potential of the Musaceae crop (leaf emission rate, flowering to harvest period, potential bunch weight, nutrient demand, and water requirements). °AHoRa is a tool for climate change adaptation and mitigation, with special emphasis on family farming production systems in Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic, to improve planning, inform decision-making, and ensure timely agronomic practices, higher yields, crop quality and profitability. A business plan for sustainability and the App's operational manuals are included.

"The app is very useful, because before I had to keep an eye on the rain gauge to know how much it rained and now the °AHoRa App shows the precipitation information."

Julio Charris, family banana farmer, La Rosiris farm, corregimiento de Orihueca - Zona Bananera - Colombia.

Participating countries

Type of project

Agronomic Practices

Results

The °AHoRa project delivers: webinars with national and international specialists to formulate the platform and launch the project. Equations (5) that integrate agroclimatic and ecophysiological information of the crop to estimate leaf emission rate, flowering time to harvest, potential bunch weight, nutrients to be restored to the soil according to the extraction by harvest and crop water needs. Diagnosis of production and crop behavior in the three countries. Study of the use of similar applications in the market. Demo and Pro versions of the App. Farm-to-farm workshops and training on the use of the App in the test areas (Colombia, Peru and Dominican Republic). Initial and updated business plan. Demo and Pro App operating manuals. Validation and launch of the Pro App with family farmers and researchers in the field. User experience analysis of Demo vs. Pro version. Results that impact+ in LAC.