RiceAdvice Lite: Digital Advisory for Rice

Empowering Rice Farmers with RiceAdvice Lite

RiceAdvice Lite, an Android or web-based decision support tool developed by Excellence in Agronomy, offers personalized recommendations tailored to specific fields. These recommendations encompass optimal sowing timing, fertilizer management strategies, and a range of other best agricultural practices suitable for both irrigated and rainfed lowland rice cultivation.

This technology is pre-validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption5

Technology integrated in the 2PAU, P2-RSP2, PADCV-PTA, PURPA, and ERAVCDP projects, in Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, and Angola.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
2PAU Emergency Food Production Programme	1.8 million small farms.	161.96 million	2022–2023	2,279 tons of corn seeds. 3,539 tons of rice seeds. 134 million cassava cuttings.
P2-RSP2 Project 2 of the Food and Nutrition Insecurity Resilience Programme in the Sahel (P2-RSP2) – Gambia Component	40,000 farmers (50% women & 20% young people).	10.56 million	2025–2028	10,000 tons of seeds. 1,600,000 farmers.
PADCV-PTA Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
PURPA Projet d’Urgence pour le Renforcement de la Production Agricole	102,000 direct beneficiaries. 330,525 producers, of whom 33.07% are women, 9.40% are youth, and 19.39% are young people	38.87 million	2022–2024	8,710 tons of certified seeds. 11,350 farmers trained.
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive low

Women: Positive low

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Problem

Fertilizer misuse: Inappropriate or excessive use of fertilizers can lead to nutrient imbalances in the soil, affecting crop growth and productivity. It can also result in environmental pollution and degradation.
Suboptimal rice management: Inefficient or ineffective management practices, such as improper irrigation, pest and disease control, and harvesting methods, can lead to reduced yields and lower quality rice production.
Impact on productivity and sustainability: These issues directly affect the overall productivity of rice cultivation, leading to lower yields and reduced agricultural output. Additionally, unsustainable practices can degrade soil health and ecosystem services over time, compromising the long-term sustainability of rice farming.
Risk to millions of people's food security: Given that rice is a staple food for millions of people, any decline in rice productivity due to fertilizer misuse and suboptimal management practices poses a significant risk to food security, potentially leading to shortages and increased food prices.

Solution

Site-specific fertilizer recommendations: Tailored advice on the type, amount, and timing of fertilizer application based on the specific characteristics and nutrient needs of individual rice fields. This ensures optimal nutrient management, reduces fertilizer waste, and improves soil fertility over time.
Optimal planting times: Guidance on the best times for sowing rice seeds to maximize yield potential. By planting at the right time, farmers can take advantage of favorable weather conditions and ensure proper crop establishment, leading to higher yields and better overall productivity.

Key points to design your program

Rice-Fish Culture is an integrated farming system that combines rice cultivation with fish production to improve food and nutrition security, diversify household incomes, and enhance the sustainable use of land and water resources. The technology helps increase rice productivity, fish production, and farm resilience while reducing reliance on agrochemicals. It can be integrated into programs focused on rice production, aquaculture development, food security, climate-smart agriculture, and rural livelihoods. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 13 (Climate Action).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess the suitability of rice-growing areas, water availability, fish production potential, and market opportunities for integrated rice-fish farming.
Establish partnerships with Excellence in Agronomy (EiA), AfricaRice, national agricultural research and extension services, fisheries and aquaculture institutions, farmer organizations, and other value chain stakeholders.
Facilitate access to quality rice seed, fish fingerlings, water management infrastructure, and other essential production inputs.
Implement demonstration plots and farmer training on integrated rice-fish production, water management, fish husbandry, and good agricultural practices.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of integrated rice-fish farming systems.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in technology dissemination and adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as the number of farmers reached, area under rice-fish production, rice and fish yields, household income, food and nutrition security, and technology adoption.

IP

Unknown

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
2PAU Emergency Food Production Programme	1.8 million small farms.	161.96 million	2022–2023	2,279 tons of corn seeds. 3,539 tons of rice seeds. 134 million cassava cuttings.
P2-RSP2 Project 2 of the Food and Nutrition Insecurity Resilience Programme in the Sahel (P2-RSP2) – Gambia Component	40,000 farmers (50% women & 20% young people).	10.56 million	2025–2028	10,000 tons of seeds. 1,600,000 farmers.
PADCV-PTA Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
PURPA Projet d’Urgence pour le Renforcement de la Production Agricole	102,000 direct beneficiaries. 330,525 producers, of whom 33.07% are women, 9.40% are youth, and 19.39% are young people	38.87 million	2022–2024	8,710 tons of certified seeds. 11,350 farmers trained.
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Côte d’Ivoire	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sierra Leone	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 6: clean water and sanitation

RiceAdvice Lite can be used by following the procedures below:

Step 1: Download RiceAdvice Lite, Android App from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cocapacity.riceadvicelite) on your smartphone or tablet. You can also use Web App (https://lite.riceadvice.info/seekadvice).

Step 2: Install RiceAdvice Lite on your smartphone or tablet.

Step 3: Following discussion between the extension agent or service and farmer, fill in the farmer’s personal farming conditions: Rice-growing conditions, typical practices, fertilizer type,

Step 4: Select yield targets based on the available budget or desired production level.

Step 5: Get personalized recommendations, including a optimal planting window and fertilizer application timing and rates, and other good agricultural practices.

Last updated on Jul 2, 2026