Abiotic Stress  Monitoring,  Forecasting And  Management System
Creators: name: Gutam, Sridhar
name: Jain, Rajni
name: Rao, DVKN
name: Pannikkar, Preetha
name: Sarangi, A
name: Narula, Sapna
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Abiotic Stress, Decision Support System, Agriculture, India

description: The ill effects of abiotic factors like excess or deficient water availability, increase in temperature, climatic aberrations, soil salinity, sodicity, acidity, deficiency or toxicity of soil nutrients, pollution of water and soil are causing severe stress on the living organisms on the earth. Since long famers and soil scientists including plant breeders are aware that it is often the simultaneous occurrence of several abiotic stresses, rather than a particular stress condition, that is most lethal to crops. But co-occurrence of different stresses is rarely addressed. Information is available that the response of plants to a combination of two different abiotic stresses is unique and cannot be directly extrapolated from the response of plants to each of the different stresses. The sufferers from abiotic stress include agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. Though the living species are looking for some mitigation strategies and trying to endure the stress, it is now a major challenge to the human beings on the earth to manage abiotic stress on crops, animals and fisheries. Scientists had developed various simulation models and decision support systems (DSS) to study various factors influencing the life on earth and also to take decisions to mitigate the vulnerabilities. However, use of the Web as the platform with free and open source software tools, semantic features, integrating data for better and faster access to knowledge, a DSS for management of abiotic stress was not attempted. Therefore, a DSS specifically designed for assisting experts to assess different kinds of abiotic stress and to take a decision, which would be the optimal &amp; suitable countermeasure strategy for the management of abiotic stress or enhance the capacity for strategic research is proposed. The general structure of DSS software system consists of software for implementation of available models, GIS and Reference Data Base and user interface. The various validated environmental models would be joining with all the DSS components as unit system and support the system with a user-friendly interface between data storage, analysis tools and Geographical Information System (GIS). The data that are available in the system would be presented as meaningful information with graphical representation which would aid the expert in taking decisions for the tasks to be performed. The proposed DSS software system guides the user from input handling and selection of stress mitigation actions. The simulation models, which are being used to predict responses to various environmental conditions and management are useful tools for agriculture (irrigation management, soil physics, plant nutrition, plant diseases, and related topics), fisheries and animal sciences. One of the most important uses of models is to forecast the results produced by a system in response to a given set of inputs that include certain environmental conditions and agricultural practices that affect crop performance. By these models, the governmental agencies, concerned with developing agricultural and environmental policies can set research priorities and guide fund allocations. Modelling can provide quantitative descriptions and the understanding of systems, helping to pinpoint areas where knowledge is lacking and helping in the design of more adequate and effective experiments. This provides steps towards the management of wide range of environmental scenarios and thereby creating a framework for the design of the optimal strategies to suit various climatic, biotic and abiotic conditions. The proposed project: “Abiotic Stress Monitoring, Forecasting and Management System (ASMFMS) shall involve, specialisation component, integrating interpolated meteorological data, soils &amp; crops parameters, water resources and GIS tools. With input and output stored in a RDBMS, the prepared data with statistical procedures produce the results on maps, which shall be used to forecast abiotic stress. Data mining and curation of agriculture, horticulture, animal, fisheries, soil, water and weather data would be integrated as information system linking agricultural, horticultural, animal, and fishery sciences. The application of information systems would be with suitable free/open source software (FOSS) programming languages, tools and freely available resources like digital elevation models and satellite imagery. With the establishment of ASMFMS with FOSS tools would pave way for the Open Source Biology and Agriculture research and development. All the stakeholders viz., farmers, business men, banks, scientists and common man would be benefited to take suitable decisions through this system.

Objectives:


	Design of RDBMS database and development of software.
	Creation of database of soils, water resources &amp; weather data.
	Creation of database of crops, horticulture, fisheries.
	Application of different simulation models to generate information and knowledge creation.
	Integration of GIS with the created databases.


Major outputs expected to be delivered at the end of the project:


	Desktop and Web based Decision Support System for Abiotic Stress Management of Crops, Animals, Fisheries.
	Creation of forecast and current status of abiotic stress maps for small unit of geographical area.
	Possibility of management of wide range of environmental scenarios under simulated framework of design for the various abiotic conditions.
	Development of shorterm and longterm optimal &amp; suitable countermeasure strategy for the management of abiotic stress.
	Concept of open source agriculture research and development for mitigating abiotic stress.