BRGY. SANGHAN, Cabadbaran City – Sixty-four rice farmers here were given fertilizer recommendations through the Rice Crop Manager (RCM), a web-based advisory service developed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The said activity was part of the RCM briefing conducted by the Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center 13 (ATI-RTC 13) and was held last March 26, 2021 at the Kamalaka Irrigators’ Association Building.

Fil Victor Babanto, Chief of the Information Services Section (ISS) of ATI-RTC 13, gave a briefing on RCM before a one-on-one interview and fertilizer recommendation took place. Of the 64 farmers served, the ISS was able to generate 94 fertilizer recommendations.

After the interview, farmers were advised to follow the said recommendations in the next cropping season. They will be followed up by the RCM team through phone calls or text messages. The aim of RCM is to reduce production costs, increase yields, increase net income, and deploy appropriate information at correct times to farmers through information and communications technology (ICT).