Application of new science tools in integrated watershed management for enhancing impacts.

Not AvailableApplication of new science tools in rainfed agriculture opens up new vistas for development through IWMPs. These tools can help in improving the rural livelihoods and contributing substantially to meet the millennium development goals of halving the number of hungry people by 2015 and achieving food security through enhanced use efficiency of scarce natural resources such as land and water in the tropical countries. Till now rainfed areas of the SAT did not get much benefit of new science tools but the recent research using these tools such as simulation modeling, remote sensing, GIS as well as satellite-based monitoring of the natural resources in the SAT has shown that not only the effectiveness of the research is enhanced substantially but also the cost efficiency and impact are enhanced. The remarkable developments in space technology currently offer satellites which provide better spatial and spectral resolutions, more frequent revisits, stereo viewing, and on-board recording capabilities. Thus, the high spatial and temporal resolution satellite data could be effectively used for watershed management and monitoring activities at land ownership level. By using crop simulation modeling approach, yield gap analyses for the major crops in Asia, Africa, and WANA regions revealed that the yields could be doubled with the existing technologies if the improved crop land, nutrient, and water management options are scaled-out. Similarly, technology application domains could be easily identified for better success and greater adoption of the particular technologies considering the biophysical as well as socioeconomic situations. GIS helped in speedy analysis of voluminous data and more rationale decision in less time to target the investments as well as to monitor the large number of interventions in the SAT. The satellite-based techniques along with GIS helped in identifying the vast fallow areas (2 million ha) in Madhya Pradesh during the rainy season. Similarly, 14 million ha rice-fallows in the Indo-Gangetic Plain offer excellent potential to grow second crop on residual soil moisture by using shortduration chickpea cultivars and simple seed priming technology. These techniques are also successfully used for preparing detailed thematic maps, watershed development plans, and continuous monitoring of the natural resources in the country in rainfed areas. Further, such data could be of immense help in tracking the implementation, applying midcourse corrections, and for assessing long-term effectiveness of the program implemented. The synergy of GIS and Web Technology allows access to dynamic geospatial watershed information without burdening the users with complicated and expensive software. Further, these web-based technologies help the field data collection and analysis in a collaborative way. However the availability of suitable software for watershed studies and their management in open GIS platform is very limited. Hence, there is a requirement to strengthen this area through collaborative efforts between various line organizations. Use of ICT in IWMP can bridge the existing gap to reach millions of small farm holders who have no access to new technologies for enhancing agricultural productivity on their farms. Use of smart sensor network along with GIS, remote sensing, Wani Ch006.tex 8/7/2011 19: 41 Page 201 Application of new science tools in integrated watershed management 201 simulation modeling and ICT opens up new opportunities for developing intelligent watershed management information systems. However, it calls for a new partnership involving corporates, development agencies, researchers from various disciplines and most importantly to reach millions of small farm holders in rainfed areas of the world. Application of new science tools in IWMP have helped to substantially enhance productivity as well as income from rainfed agriculture and improved livelihoods of the rural people.Not Availabl

Flex-Ro: A Robotic High Throughput Field Phenotyping System

Research in agriculture is critical to developing techniques to meet the world’s demand for food, fuel, fiber, and feed. Optimization of crop production per unit of land requires scientists across disciplines to collaborate and investigate new areas of science and tools for data collection. The use of robotics has been adopted in several industries to supplement labor, and accurately perform repetitious tasks. However, the use of autonomous robots in commercial agricultural production is still limited. The Flex-Ro (Flexible structured Robotic platform) was developed for use in large area fields as a multipurpose tool to perform monotonous agricultural tasks. This work presents the design and implementation of the control system for the Flex-Ro machine. The machine control architecture was developed for safe operation with redundant emergency stops and checks. Operators use the remote-control device to maneuver the machine in uncontrolled environments. Autonomous field coverage was developed using global positioning system (GPS) guidance. The guidance system tracked within 4 cm of the guidance line 95% of the time at a travel speed of 4 kph. Waypoint guidance was implemented and demonstrated such that Flex-Ro could be programmed to follow complex paths and curves. High-throughput plant phenotyping is a continuously developing and evolving field of plant science. The methods used to collect phenotyping data include drones, satellites, manual measurement, and ground rovers. A suite of phenotyping sensors was installed onto the Flex-Ro to cover large field areas. The system was verified in soybean research plots at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Spidercam phenotyping facility. Positive correlations between the Spidercam and Flex-Ro phenotyping data were established. The Flex-Ro was able to statistically distinguish between soybean variety emergence and maturity differences. The late season phenotyping data showed statistical differences between the fully irrigated versus deficit plots. Basic economic calculations estimated the cost to operate the Flex-Ro machine for field phenotyping use at approximately $5.50/ha. Advisor: Santosh K. Pitl

Flex-Ro: A Robotic High Throughput Field Phenotyping System

Research in agriculture is critical to developing techniques to meet the world’s demand for food, fuel, fiber, and feed. Optimization of crop production per unit of land requires scientists across disciplines to collaborate and investigate new areas of science and tools for data collection. The use of robotics has been adopted in several industries to supplement labor, and accurately perform repetitious tasks. However, the use of autonomous robots in commercial agricultural production is still limited. The Flex-Ro (Flexible structured Robotic platform) was developed for use in large area fields as a multipurpose tool to perform monotonous agricultural tasks. This work presents the design and implementation of the control system for the Flex-Ro machine. The machine control architecture was developed for safe operation with redundant emergency stops and checks. Operators use the remote-control device to maneuver the machine in uncontrolled environments. Autonomous field coverage was developed using global positioning system (GPS) guidance. The guidance system tracked within 4 cm of the guidance line 95% of the time at a travel speed of 4 kph. Waypoint guidance was implemented and demonstrated such that Flex-Ro could be programmed to follow complex paths and curves. High-throughput plant phenotyping is a continuously developing and evolving field of plant science. The methods used to collect phenotyping data include drones, satellites, manual measurement, and ground rovers. A suite of phenotyping sensors was installed onto the Flex-Ro to cover large field areas. The system was verified in soybean research plots at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Spidercam phenotyping facility. Positive correlations between the Spidercam and Flex-Ro phenotyping data were established. The Flex-Ro was able to statistically distinguish between soybean variety emergence and maturity differences. The late season phenotyping data showed statistical differences between the fully irrigated versus deficit plots. Basic economic calculations estimated the cost to operate the Flex-Ro machine for field phenotyping use at approximately $5.50/ha. Advisor: Santosh K. Pitl

Artificial Neural Networks in Agriculture

Modern agriculture needs to have high production efficiency combined with a high quality of obtained products. This applies to both crop and livestock production. To meet these requirements, advanced methods of data analysis are more and more frequently used, including those derived from artificial intelligence methods. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are one of the most popular tools of this kind. They are widely used in solving various classification and prediction tasks, for some time also in the broadly defined field of agriculture. They can form part of precision farming and decision support systems. Artificial neural networks can replace the classical methods of modelling many issues, and are one of the main alternatives to classical mathematical models. The spectrum of applications of artificial neural networks is very wide. For a long time now, researchers from all over the world have been using these tools to support agricultural production, making it more efficient and providing the highest-quality products possible

High-throughput estimation of crop traits: A review of ground and aerial phenotyping platforms

Crop yields need to be improved in a sustainable manner to meet the expected worldwide increase in population over the coming decades as well as the effects of anticipated climate change. Recently, genomics-assisted breeding has become a popular approach to food security; in this regard, the crop breeding community must better link the relationships between the phenotype and the genotype. While high-throughput genotyping is feasible at a low cost, highthroughput crop phenotyping methods and data analytical capacities need to be improved. High-throughput phenotyping offers a powerful way to assess particular phenotypes in large-scale experiments, using high-tech sensors, advanced robotics, and imageprocessing systems to monitor and quantify plants in breeding nurseries and field experiments at multiple scales. In addition, new bioinformatics platforms are able to embrace large-scale, multidimensional phenotypic datasets. Through the combined analysis of phenotyping and genotyping data, environmental responses and gene functions can now be dissected at unprecedented resolution. This will aid in finding solutions to currently limited and incremental improvements in crop yields

Book of Abstracts - XIII EUCARPIA Biometrics in Plant Breeding Section Meeting - 30 August - 1 September 2006 - Zagreb, Croatia

The Book of Abstracts of the XIII EUCARPIA Biometrics in Plant Breeding Section Meeting held in 2006 in Zagreb, Croatia, contains the abstracts of 40 oral presentations and 22 posters as presented during six sessions: Linkage and LD based QTL Mapping Methodology I and II, Computer Science, Bioinformatics and Analysis of Large Data Sets, Crop Growth Modelling / Modelling GxE, and Collaborative Breeding. All the abstracts have been thoroughly reviewed by the members of Scientific Committee

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 407)

This bibliography lists 289 reports, articles and other documents announced in the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during Nov. 1995. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and physiology, life support systems and man/system technology, protective clothing, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, planetary biology, and flight crew behavior and performance

Earth Resources. A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 34, July 1982

This bibliography lists 567 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System between April 1, and June 30, 1982. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes (issue 47)

This bibliography lists 524 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 1 and September 30, 1985. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economical analysis