Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
After the soil sampling method has been settled, the nutritional parameters of
soil and crops can be analyzed in the laboratory or using the fast and nondestructive
methods for soil and crop nutritional properties. Another step of interpolation is fol-
lowed to make the final soil and crop nutritional map.
9.3.2 N
UTRITION
D
ISPUTATION
M
AP
B
ASED
ON
GIS
GIS is the merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology. GIS
allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways
that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports,
and charts. The main steps for the nutrition disputation map based on GIS are dis-
cussed below.
The first step is to obtain the soil and crop sampling data. The sampling data
should include the nutritional information of soil and crops, and should also include
the position information with longitude and latitude information.
In the second step, a suitable GIS platform is selected. There are many commer-
cial GIS platforms developed for different applications. The MapInfo Professional,
developed by MapInfo Company (USA), is the most commonly used software plat-
form. The MapInfo can handle many kinds of data formats, such as Microsoft Access,
Microsoft Excel, dBASE DBF, ESRI Shapefiles, Raster Image, Lotus 1-2-3, Oracle,
Informix, SQL server database, etc. The ArcGIS for Desktop pages (ArcView) is
another software platform developed by ESRI (USA). This software can be installed
in Unix, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows 9X, Windows NT, etc. The ArcView
can be used for View, Table, Chart, Layout, and Script. It also has several extended
functions, such as ArcView Spatial Analyst, ArcView Network Analyst, ArcView 3D
Analyst, ArcPress for ArcView, ArcIMS, ArcIMD Rout Server, ArcIMS Metadata
Server, ArcIMS ArcMap Server, JSP Connector for ArcIMS, Image Analyst for
ArcView, Tracking Analyst for ArcView, etc. Other software platforms are also
used: ERDAS IMAGING by ERDAS (USA), Genamap by GENASYS (Australia),
CGIS (Canada), SICAD (Germany), and CitiStar, SuperMap, GeoStar, APSIS, and
ViewGIS (China).
The third step is input of sampling data. This step involves putting sampling data
of soil or crops into the selected software platform.
The fourth step is interpolation. You have to settle the interpolation boundary and
interpolation nutrient using a proper interpolation method. The common interpola-
tion methods are the Thiessen polygon method, inverse distance weighting, moving
average method, linear interpolation, double linear polynomial method, spline func-
tion method, Kriging method, etc.
The fifth step involves computation and map output. After computing using the
interpolation method, the nutrition distribution map is formed and can be displayed
in and printed from the computer.
9.3.3 A
UTOMATION
OF
N
UTRITION
M
ANAGEMENT
From 1978 to 1995, the national fertilizer consumption has increased by 97%, but
grain output has increased by only 36%, whereas the crop yield increased by 1%,
