Category: Field administration

eProd v2.1.20191027 has been released!

eProd Solutions Limited is excited to announce the release of the new eProd version on the desktop and mobile app.

We’re constantly working to improve your eProd experience. Please find below a summary of what has changed:

IMPROVEMENTS
1. Mobile app
• The farmer profile layout has been improved
• An upload feature has been added to enable the copying of the mobile app database to the server for debugging incase an error is encountered
• A new language has been added: ‘Kinyarwanda’
• The phone number is now an optional field when farmers are created in the app

2. Desktop
• The system is now compatible with MYSQL 5.7
• A group type option has been added in the group section to allow for the classification of groups into various categories
• A new section has been added in the contact section called organization membership which highlights a farmer’s role in an organization
• The language files can now be updated at a click of a button
• Reports generated by the system can now be shared via email
• Several SMS options have been added in the system. You can now send SMS to: All organizations, all groups within an organization and lastly, all groups
• You can now select which columns you would like featured in the PDF version of your report
• Several payment reports have been added
• Several reports have been updated

FIXES
1. Mobile app
• The input field will no longer be hidden by the default system keyboard when a user is keying in data

2. Desktop
• The birth date is now displaying properly after the date has been selected
• Phone number validation mechanism has been improved
• Under the staff profile, long staff names can now be saved
• Ethiopia’s phone numbers have been restricted to 13 digits
• Whilst saving any report in eProd, the system will automatically append the extension of file (.xls/.xlsx/.csv) to the file
• Groups can now be deleted/de-activated

Enjoy the new eProd experience by upgrading your eProd desktop and mobile app to version 20191027. Kindly contact us (info@eprod-solutions.com) if you encounter any challenges.

Weather forecasting by SMS

With weather forecasting by SMS, eProd provides a flexible and efficient tool to send weather forecasts to farmers.

SMS communication to farmers

Many companies and farmer cooperatives need to communicate with their farmers. Yet, often they lack a tool to manage this cost-effectively.

Meet and Greet Us

eProd Solutions Ltd will participate in the 3rd Edition of the Harvest Money Expo taking place from 14 – 17 February 2019 at the Mandela Stadium.

Please meet and greet us at the Dutch Pavilion and learn more about some of the latest eProd features:

1. Milk Quality Based Payment
2. Farmer Registration on the Mobile App
3. Field Registration and Standard Implementation
4. Flexible Payment Systems (mobile money, bank transfer, cash)
5. Stock Module for integration of brokers and agents into the supply chain

If you wish to book an appointment with us, kindly reach us through edwin@eprod-solutions.com. We look forward to meeting you!

aWhere Pilot Project

eProd Solutions Limited would like to invite you to participate in the pilot of the aWhere project (Phase I).

In the month of April 2017, eProd Solutions Limited entered into a strategic partnership with aWhere, a global agricultural intelligence company that collects weather data from satellites and local ground based weather stations. The initial phase of this project will make it possible for field officers and farmers to receive individualized weather forecasts data on their mobile phones.

We would like you to be part of this pilot inorder to determine whether this new eProd component will be beneficial to your farmers and lastly whether the localized weather information sent to you is valid.

If you are interested in participating in this pilot, kindly send your GEO coordinates to  kelvin@eprod-solutions.com and be part of the new agribusiness revolution taking place in the East Africa.

Do you buy through brokers?

Hate them or love them: the broker in the agricultural value chain is there to stay. eProd has developed a new module to manage middle-men in the agricultural value chain. You can now include brokers (please, let us call them agents from now on…) in your operations and keep records of their expenses and stocks built up. You don’t have to lose product traceability anymore simply because you buy (part of) your produce through local middle-men! You can manage outstanding loan balances and payments by the mobile application user. How does it work? Some examples:

You want to keep records of (petty) cash kept by the agent using the mobile application. The cash can be used for many different transactions, e.g. petty cash field expenses, giving out cash loans, paying cash for produce, etc. The user of the app can also receive cash, e.g. from the company, repayments of loans, sale of inputs against cash etc. There can be more than one (petty) cash accounts simultaneously. For example, one can use the same to keep track of the mobile payment account linked to a certain mobile phone. A user of the app is now able to keep track of cash and mobile payment balance.

Accounts are linked to a specific product. For the petty cash accounts mentioned above the product is cash. If multiple currencies are used, multiple accounts can be created. If the product is an input then this is reflected in the stocks. An example, an agent as issued 300 50 kg bags of a DAP fertilizer. A transaction of 15,000 kg will be created. So a product has a unit (e.g. KG) and a quantity per unit. Any product can be used, it is not restricted to agriculture by the way. It’s a matter of creating an account for it. It basically functions as a stock card.READ MORE

Weather information and small scale farming

What if weather information can assist you to predict: When and what to plant? When and how much to irrigate? What pests to scout and treat for? When, what and how much to fertilize?  When the harvest will be? How much yield is expected? When an insurance payout triggers? When and what to spray? eProd Solutions and aWhere partner to lift agriculture for small holder farmers to the next level. “We collect more than 7 billion data points across the planet to create unprecedented visibility and insight for the agricultural earth”, says John Corbett,  Chief Science Officer and Co-founder of aWhere. “In partnership with eProd Solutions we aim at making these technologies that have proven to create value for large scale farming available for small scale farmers. Location, planting date, soil type and crop variety information is captured by the eProd mobile app and fed into the aWhere platform. The platform generates localized forecasts for weather, and information for pest & disease control, field actions and crop stress. eProd now shares the information through SMS to farmers and field staff, and it is used to create automated management reports”.

eProd users are invited to participate in pilots. Please contact us for more information via info@eprod-solutions.com