Introduction:

Smart phone applications known as “Mobile Apps” make user’s life easier and today there are millions of apps available for different purposes. It is a software used on mobile devices intended for different purposes such as entertainment, banking and doctor channelling. The objective of this proposal is to develop an app to link farmers, sellers, customers in vegetable, fruit and fish markets and minimize both marketing issues in those sectors and reduce postharvest loss.

There are several marketing issues in the vegetable and fruit sector in Sri Lanka due to unavailability of good market information dissemination methods. One farmer can sell his production to market easily and earn better income while another farmer facing marketing issues (Example: low farm gate price, less profit, huge postharvest loss) and end up with a financial loss. Similarly, one customer pays a higher price for vegetable and fruit while another pays comparatively a low price for the same at the same time. One person may purchase vegetable and fruit from a distance place with high transport cost due to unavailability of information about nearest selling stalls. These issues are common for the fish market as well. One fish farmer can sell his products at a good price while another end up with both financial loss and wastage of his products due to not having a proper market. The proposed app can solve all these marketing issues in vegetable, fruit and fish sectors by linking different stakeholders and creating a good information dissemination method.

Main Objective

• Create a link between farmers, sellers, customers in vegetable, fruit and fish markets and minimize both marketing issues and reduce postharvest loss.

Sub objectives

• Create a good platform to buy and sell quality seeds and plants.

Technical partner:

    Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT)

Training Programme of Geographic Information System 

Precision Agriculture and GIS

1. Course Description

The Geographic Information System (GIS) is unique as it enables the examination of data which have geographic location as an inherent property. The GIS is much more than just a mapping software program because it provides sing a suite of tools for manipulating, analyzing, visualizing and illustrating geographic (spatial) data., The utilization of GIS can be used to reveal the relationships, trends and patterns that are not apparent in written or tabular format. Analysis with the GIS generates answers for simple to complex questions such as: where is the best location for a new development? which Crop, Irrigation canal would be impacted by a change in local zoning? where has the incidence of CKD, Dengue disease increased over the time? Further, GIS database allows you to integrate demographic characteristics of a given area, region, country or any other land mass. 

2. Course Objective:

1. To provide an understanding of the basic concepts and uses of GIS technology so that spatial    analysis can be incorporated as an additional aspect of research and studies.
2. To familiarize the application of GIS and Remote Sensing as Decision Support Tool for Climate Change, Agriculture, Food Security, Environmental Changes and Agricultural Marketing.
3. To provide competencies to the participants to design and implement their own research projects with integrating GIS and remote sensing data and GPS-based field information.
4. To train participants to use mobile phones or tablets to gather data during field assessments/surveys

3. Teaching Methods:

In this training program, participants will learn about basic GIS concepts including spatial data structures, data sources and transfer methods, projections and coordinate systems, geo-referencing, metadata, supporting software, global positioning systems (GPSs), the integration of remote sensing and GIS, as well as fundamental spatial analysis techniques such as overlay, extraction, and interpolation. Concepts presented in the lectures will be put into practice through hands-on computer exercises utilizing the GIS software product ArcGIS 10.x (ESRI, Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc.). and open source software QGIS 2.x (Quantum GIS) and Android Apps for mobile phones and tablets. 

4. Syllabus:

• GIS project design and setup
• Sources of GIS data
• Basic use of GIS Software
• Integrating data from different sources into a GIS
• Using Smart Mobil Phone GPS for field data collection
• Mapping areas of climate change, rainfall data etc. in Sri Lanka
• Introduction to Sonar Charts.
• Learn how imagery collected by satellites and Drones.

          Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5hO0RKpAwk&t=17s

6. Program

*Bring your laptops, Android Smart Phone or Tablet

Course Coordinator and Conductor

Mr. H.M.J.K.Herath

GIS Unit

H/K Agrarian Research and Training Institute

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Skype : herath.kumara                                      

Viber: Herth Kumara 0779258476

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5hO0RKpAwk