Agro-meteorological knowledge management system for small scale farmers

Abstract

A lot has been done in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in business yet very little in solving agricultural problems in developing countries. The problem addressed in this paper is the integration of widely available knowledge, processing and providing effective delivery for countries with low ICT infrastructure. Data was collected from small-scale farmers, meteorologists, agricultural extension officers and a research station and analyzed. From this, a suitable knowledge based model was developed. In order to evaluate the model, a prototype was developed and used in tests with sample data. The results reveal that the best way of disseminating agro-meteorological information to small scale farmers is using an integrated knowledge management system and mobile phone technology.