PADDY WATCH- App to monitor rice fields

World's first real time digital platform to monitor rice fields. It will give information about the quantity of rice planted and the harvest achieved. Researchers of University of Sydney in collaboration with others partners have been developing an app : PADDY WATCH.

• The project has been undertaken in collaboration with Google Earth and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).
  

In India, this app is being developed by IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute). India, China, and Indonesia are the world's largest producers of rice and together account for about 60% of the total world production.

The real time land use data will be generated using Google Earth and Cloud Computing Technology and will be verified by field operators in India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. This will allow the agricultural scientists to monitor and ensure their accuracy worldwide. These 5 countries hold the position of largest rice producing countries across the globe.

This mobile app will allow farmers and scientists to

• determine the extent of arable land under rice cropping in near real-time
• estimate potential yields
• manage water use and water security;
• account for greenhouse gas emissions (paddy rice releases methane)
• develop policies for education, economic growth, gender equity, and reducing social inequality.

Paddy Watch is being developed in partnership with Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture- Malaysia. The Institute of Soil Science at Chinese Academy of Sciences. University Malaysia Terengganu. The Indonesian Center of Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development in the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture. IADA Ketara, and RIICE remote sensing, Vietnam.

This type of technology would enhance the world's confidence to feed the population in a sustainable way.