Gamifying the Rice Industry: The ‘Riceville’ Paradigm

Abstract

The global agriculture industry remains underdeveloped due to a lack of education among farmers about best practices and technologies. Similarly, corporate gamification and the rise of serious games have demonstrated their effectiveness in education within our era. The implementation of gamification principles through accessible technological platforms has massive potential in building best practices in the agriculture industry. Rice agriculture has a resistance to the adoption of new methodologies and technologies. This paper introduces ‘Riceville’, a game used to simulate a virtual farming environment promoting the use of effective best-practices introduced by leading rice organisations like the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). By gamifying best practices, the social norms of low adoption and perception of risk can be altered to boost the reception of novel practices within the industry. This will not only serve to modernize the rice industry but also improve yields for farmers while helping agriculture companies increase exposure.