The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched CropSuit — a tool that helps farmers select crops based on scientific data. It illustrates the growing trend of applying data and digital technology to farming decisions that have long relied mainly on experience.

Why "the right crop on the right land" matters

A leading cause of crop failure and wasted resources is choosing crops unsuited to the soil, climate, and market. Planting the wrong crop on the wrong land lowers yields, raises input costs, and increases pest risk. As climate change makes natural conditions harder to predict, a data-driven decision tool becomes especially valuable.

Key features

CropSuit integrates three important data sources: local climate, soil characteristics, and market signals to recommend the most suitable crop for each specific plot of land. This multi-factor approach balances biological feasibility with economic viability.

  • Reduces the risk of choosing crops unsuited to natural conditions
  • Optimizes yield based on actual soil and climate
  • Links farming decisions to market signals, limiting oversupply-price collapses
  • Supports scientifically grounded crop restructuring

Data-driven agriculture

CropSuit exemplifies the global spread of precision and data-driven agriculture. Rather than farming by habit, farmers can increasingly use digital tools to analyze the specific conditions of their land and make optimal choices, improving the efficient use of land and water and reducing risk.

What to plant and where should be guided by data on soil, climate, and markets, not merely by habit or trend.

Application in Vietnam and ASTRI's role

With diverse terrain and climate, CropSuit holds great potential to support Vietnamese farmers, particularly in crop-restructuring areas such as the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands — regions strongly affected by climate change and saline intrusion, where choosing the right crop is vital to livelihoods. ASTRI Institute closely follows international agricultural-technology trends and works to adapt them to Vietnamese conditions, in line with its pursuit of smart, efficient, and sustainable agriculture.

Source: Agroecology Magazine – sinhthainongnghiep.net.vn