Cell phones usher in rural modernization

LOS BANOS, Philippines - The mobile phone may soon replace the centuries-old straw hat as the Filipino rice farmer's must-have accessory, with mobile phone text messaging likely to launch an agricultural revolution in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

"Precision agriculture could become available to small-scale farmers at their fingertips within a few minutes," says Roland Buresh of the International Rice Research Institute.

The institute develops new rice varieties and crop management techniques aimed at reducing poverty and ensuring that rice production is sustainable, has minimal environmental impact and can cope with climate change.