Restorative farming enterprise Coast 4C is joining forces with tech startup Oceanfarmr in an attempt to help seaweed farmers throughout Southeast Asia. The partnership plans to launch mobile technologies that are able to improve farm operations performance, finance and ESG monetization with a focus on small-scale farmers.
“We are excited to collaborate with Coast 4C to develop technologies that will help small-scale seaweed producers in Southeast Asia improve their crop yields, financial security, and sustainability,” Ewan McAsh, Oceanfarmr CEO, stated in a press release. “This collaboration aligns with our mission to use technology to promote sustainable ocean farming and will help drive positive social and environmental impacts in the region.”
The partnership’s first phase will focus on scoring methodologies as they look to incorporate AI into this process. However, the biggest help to seaweed farmers in Southeast Asia is likely to come in the form of a mobile application.
This app will empower small-scale farmers to better understand seaweed condition before harvesting. The ultimate goal is to ensure farmers efficiently collect high-quality seaweed without needing to bring it onshore and score it.
In order to support the app, Coast 4C is set to manage and maintain nurseries and field sites which will allow it to provide prompt input to develop seaweed condition scoring. A timeframe has yet to be given in terms of when the application will launch.
Also Interesting: 3 things to know about Vietnam’s farmer friendly startup
Tech not only helping seaweed farmers in Southeast Asia
Technology being used to help seaweed farmers in Southeast Asia is the latest example of farming innovation to emerge across the region. In Thailand, mobile operator dtac and fertilizer giant Yara came together to develop Kaset Go, a mobile application that supports farmers in Thailand with knowledge, data and other information.
Another interesting innovation involves rice farming. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, SwissRe, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), sarmap SA and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) launched its Remote Sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Countries (RIICE) in 2012.
This rice crop monitoring initiative uses SAR satellites to collect detailed information of land used for rice cultivation in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The information gleaned from the satellites tells monitors where and how much rice is being grown, how the seed is developing and whether the fields have too much or too little water. The information is also fed into simulation models that predict the anticipated harvest yield with approximately 90 percent accuracy.
Keep Reading: Smart rice? Advancements try to modernize farming in Asia
