S21 - Session O2 - Validation of the core algorithms of °AHoRa - an app to convert short-term weather data into indicators of banana performance potential - in Dominican Republic

Authors: Charles Staver *, Philippe Tixier, Pablo Siles, Arnaldo Tapia, Domingo Rengifo, Gustavo Gandini, William Ipanaque

Automated, digitalized weather stations provide local, real time weather records which can orient improved management to address increasingly variable weather. In Dominican Republic, Banelino, an association of over 400 small organic banana growers, in the past decade has installed 8 weather stations to support black leaf streak management. However, in a recent survey, 90% of small growers indicated that they do not access weather data from their local station. A FONTAGRO-financed project is underway to design and validate an app to convert weather data into indicators of potential growth and productivity of banana. Equations drawing on long-established relationships between short-term banana performance and weather factors such as temperature, rainfall, radiation and potential evapotranspiration were developed n leaf emission rate, duration of flowering to bunch harvest, potential bunch weight, nutrient demand to replenish nutrients exported in bunches and water and irrigation demand. The app entitled °AHoRa from the symbol for temperature and first letters in Spanish from water, leaves and bunches receives daily updates from weather stations and calculates the indicators based either on varying fixed periods from 7 to 56 days for water demand and nutrients or variable periods based on accumulated growing degree days for leaf emission and bunch development. An initial validation using weather records and equations indicated that 5 of the 8 stations are sufficient to capture indicator variability. Equation estimates were compared to field data suggesting a banana production performance gap from 10-30% below potential. During a 4 month period small groups of pilot growers in close proximity to 5 different weather stations are meeting biweekly to compare indicator values from their farms with estimates of potential performance calculated based on real time weather data. Resulting data bases and performance gaps will be presented along with user feedback about the utility of °AHoRa to maintain and improve banana productivity with increasing weather variability.