Impact Evaluation of an Operational Satellite-based Integrated Rice Advisory System in Northeastern Bangladesh

Abstract

During the 2021 winterseason (January–May), locally known as Boro season, an Integrated Rice Advisory 
System (IRAS) was launched for Northeastern Bangladesh. IRAS transmitted text advisory to farmers on 
optimum ways to irrigate while safeguarding crop yield. These texts were generated on the basis of weather, 
satellite data, estimated water consumption by crops and modeled crop water need. To quantify the impact of 
IRAS, a survey was carried out for a cross sectional sample of 983 farmers and pump owners who were divided 
into control and experimental groups. On an average, experimental farmers receiving IRAS advisory irrigated 
32% less than the control group during the Boro season. Experimental pump owners with greater control of 
irrigation irrigated 44% less than control pump owners. Ninety-four percent of experimental farmers and 97 
percent of experimental pump owners reported IRAS to be either useful or very useful. Eighty percent of 
experimental farmers and 87% of pump owners reported the weather forecast to be the most useful component 
for making decisions to avoid unnecessary irrigation. IRAS advisory triggered a change in decision for 80% and 
88% of experimental farmers and experimental pump owners, respectively. Experimental group of farmers on 
average reported 30% higher earnings than their control counterparts.