<![CDATA[The utilization of smart farming technology and strengthening farmers’ capacity are needed to support rice cultivation management that is adaptive to environmental conditions and the risks posed by plant pests and diseases. This community service activity aimed to strengthen the capacity of the Makmur Bersama Geh Farmer Group (Mabes Geh), Rejo Basuki Village, Seputih Raman District, Central Lampung Regency, through the implementation of smart farming based on an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and enhancement of farmers’ knowledge of rice pests and diseases. The activity was conducted using a participatory approach through three main activities: program socialization and identification of group needs, socialization and installation of an AWS in the rice field, and extension activities on rice pests and diseases and their management. Knowledge improvement was evaluated among 22 participants using pre-test and post-test assessments. The data were analyzed descriptively and using normalized gain (N-gain). The results showed that the AWS had been installed and could be accessed online to monitor environmental conditions in real time, including rainfall probability, rainfall, temperature, humidity, cloud cover, and wind speed. The extension activities increased the participants’ mean knowledge score from 51.36 in the pre-test to 78.18 in the post-test, representing a 52.22% increase. The N-gain value of 0.56 indicated a moderate level of knowledge improvement. These findings indicate that the implementation of AWS accompanied by farmer capacity building can support the use of data-driven information and improve farmers’ knowledge in identifying and managing rice pests and diseases.]]>
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