Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
module, giving farmers the opportunity to choose pesticides according to their
environmental risk, integration of the DSS with site-specific (precision) farming and
multimedia presentation of biological and pesticide information.
The same developers, have produced an internet-based platform for the
dissemination of up-to-date crop protection information (www.planteinfo.dk). This
aims to disseminate new and reliable information on the development of pests and
diseases in crops during the growing season and is of great value for farmers and
advisory services. Up-to-date calculated risks are based on weather data for
Septoria
species on winter wheat,
Drechslera teres
and
Rhynchosporium secalis
on barley,
Oscinella frit
,
Dasineura brassica
,
Phytophthora infestans
and records available
from national pest and disease surveys of all major pests and diseases on winter
wheat, winter barley and spring barley. Information can be generated automatically
and illustrative maps can be presented such as weather-based risk calculations on
maps of Denmark divided into 40 x 40 km grids. The grids are coloured according to
the calculated risk: green if no risk, yellow if close to risk, and red if at risk. In each
grid a comparison with the developments in previous years can be retrieved in a sub-
layer. Linked to the maps is further information on the pathogen or pest and
comments from crop protection specialists.
Other examples include apple scab forecasting, a component of 'ADEM', a user-
friendly programme for growers and advisors developed by HRI at East Malling,
Kent, UK. It also models mildew, canker and fruit rot and fireblight, integrating
weather data into simultaneous simulations. Cultivar-specific effects are included
and it has been used to achieve mildew and scab control levels similar to those with
conventional fungicide programmes but with less fungicide application.
Two products primarily aimed at researchers are the Descriptions of Plant
Viruses (www.rothamsted.ac.uk/dpv), formerly 'Plant Virus Notebook', which dis-
plays the classification of plant virus genera and families as well as genome
structure and organization. The features of virus sequences can be displayed in
different ways, graphically or textually, so that the positions and relationships of the
features can be examined more easily. A complete plant virus classification is
included, together with sample genome maps of the type members of each genus
(where available). A related plant virus IT resource is the VIDE (Virus Identification
Data Exchange - image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/refs.htm - database).
12.9 DISEASE FORECASTING AND DECISION MAKING IN AN
INFORMATION THEORY FRAMEWORK
Figure 1 in Shannon (1948) presents the fundamental problem of communication in
diagrammatic form. Shannon's (1948) figure is reproduced, with adaptations, as Fig.
12.2 here. Shannon (1948) was primarily concerned with the mechanical aspects of
communication (although he did explicitly state that “
The
destination
is the person
(or thing) for which the message is intended
”). We have increased the emphasis on
the human-mechanical interaction implied in his Figure 1 here to highlight the
human elements in communication. Fig. 12.2 shows half of what is now generally
called the Knowledge Transfer (KT) cycle. The missing half would mirror the first
