FARMORE - Farm-activity Monitoring and Reporting 

The Farm-activity Monitoring and Reporting tool (FARMORE) is a performance assessment application co-designed with farmers, extension agents, and cooperatives in the Mekong River Delta of Viet Nam in 2020 to track and assess performance and progress in terms of sustainability and agroecological transitions at both farm and cooperative levels. Integrated in the national RICEMORE system, it contributes field-level data that supports the validation of farming practices and product traceability. 

FARMORE has been designed to respond to the need for systematic recording and reporting of time-series data of farmers and extensionists. Research showed that farmers' most frequent and trusted source of information and technical advice is face-to-face discussion with extensionists. Yet, this information used to be recorded sporadically, which obstructs field agents to provide tailored and fact-based advisory to farmers.

With FARMORE, farmers' performance towards sustainable farm resource management can be tracked. FARMORE benchmarks performance against scientific thresholds for sustainable criteria following the '1 Must Do, 5 Reductions' rice production principle. The performance assessment response enables discussion and co-creation of tailored solutions between intermediaries and farmers when reviewing the generated statistics. 

FARMORE is intended to promote collaborative engagement and knowledge sharing between farmers, cooperatives and extensionists, targeting a diverse group of users: 

• Extension agents can use the app to monitor and advise farmers to improve farming practices. 

• Farmers can monitor and record their practices, and test practice changes, enabling them to transition towards agroecology while improving their income. 

• Agricultural management officers are equipped to support policy implementation and ensure alignment with national agroecology strategies. 

• Cooperatives and companies can support their members in adopting advanced farming packages and participate in co-creation activities to refine and improve these practices.

FARMORE provides additional benefits, such as its flexibility to adjust the assessment criteria to enable product tracing and certification by any standards relevant in rice cultivation. Specifically, it provides flexible benchmarking standards to assess adherence to sustainability parameters, including greenhouse gas emissions and agronomic chemical uses.

Currently, data collected with FARMORE is encrypted and integrated into the database by Viet Nam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's (MARD). FARMORE underwent refinement based on stakeholder feedback and was officially transferred to MARD in September 2024. 

The monitoring and reporting program continuous to be tested, enhanced, and expanded to suit the needs of other countries in Southeast Asia.