Follow on Twitter:
Plenary session 7: Knowledge disseminationMulti-media tools for diagnosing and managing pest and disease
problems The number and range of computer-based aids for the prediction, diagnosis and management of insect pest and disease problems has steadily increased over the past 25 years. As new developments occur in Information Technology, the potential value of computer-based systems in improving pest management is increased accordingly. However, to realise this potential, the lessons of the past need to be heeded. The reasons why computer-based systems have not had more impact include their being -
The Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Pest Management (CTPM) is a joint venture between four participant organizations - two State Departments, CSIRO and The University of Queensland. Within this joint venture, a suite of software products for pest management is being developed to complement other activities - specifically, problem specification, generic and specific research and development, and education, training and communication. Within this context, the main features of the software products developed are -
This paper outlines the Centre's IT strategy. Demonstrations of software products, to illustrate their use for diagnosing and managing pest/disease problems, include -
CD-ROM as
a dissemination medium in practice: crop protection case studies
in Africa
In Africa, as elsewhere in the developing world, there is an urgent need for
improved delivery of information to support the effective implementation of
Integrated Pest Management. FAO, through its Regional Office for Africa, has
a special responsibility for supporting information needs in plant
quarantine. The FAO Regional Office has a programme to establish information
and training networks throughout Eastern and Southern Africa to support the
needs of plant protection staff in National Plant Protection Services. In
several projects carried out in partnership with CAB INTERNATIONAL, FAO has
supplied National Plant Protection Services in Africa
with extensive information resources on CD-ROM, backed by hardware, training
and technical support. Typically, plant protection specialists who gain
access to such resources for the first time display obvious excitement, and
gain considerably in professional confidence. The CD-ROM medium appears well
suited to delivering substantial information resources to developing
countries. Up to now, FAO has focused on providing bibliographic databases
in this way. There are now good prospects for further strengthening
information resources in African plant protection services through provision
of user-friendly information in multi-media format. At present, CD-ROM
remains a preferred medium. In due course, the Internet may play a
significant complementary role.
Networked
communications in extension The conceptual differences between the need for data, information and knowledge are discussed. Networked communications in extension have been tried out in the framework of the extension service in Israel in recent years. The experience was successful in the case of the dairy cattle industry. It failed with poultry and beef cattle. Flower growers connected in the past by e-mail to the auctions in the Netherlands have downgraded the technology level and switched to facsimile communication with the marketplace. The following types of networks have been established or accessed by extension in Israel:
Crop protection extension is a component of several of these programs. The following critical success factors have been identified:
The following means of communication with farmers and farmers' groups are compared in terms of farmers' needs and the development of new extension methodologies:
Being constantly reduced in staff, the Extension Service in Israel has to
amplify the
communication channels with its clientele, and among its professionals.
Networked
communications are a promising but lengthy avenue. Modern
communication needs in agriculture for developing
countries In the expanding Indian agriculture, communication plays a vital role in linking policy makers, scientists, farm level agro-consultants, market operators and international institutions. India, in the process of transforming its agriculture, has fully utilized publishing media, audio systems, audio-visual appliances, street drama and performing arts to quickly communicate with farmers, who were not necessarily formally educated, on the need to adopt modern practices to maximize yield. In academic schools, in-service education and in advanced research, the information explosion is being handled through computers.
India is integrated by the INSAT network and is telelinked throughout its
600
or more districts. Flow of weather information, transmission of banking
data, and other
vital information linkages therefore occur readily. Creating information on
the genetic
resources of wheat, analysis of a billion information points on common
wheat improvement trials conducted at forty places, and computerizing the
plant breeder's crossing note book are all nearing completion. Areas
remaining to be
explored include usage of
GIS systems, computer-aided identification of crop varieties and pests,
farmer-friendly
advisory services, on-line connection to monitor national and
international prices of commodities, and farmer education through multimedia
slide shows. Usage of
CD-ROM systems and computer usage in post-graduate education are well
established. To attain a sustainable agriculture, the need to harness the
knowledge explosion through electronic handling of information is well
recognized. Electronic
publishing in plant pathology: predicting the unpredictable Information technology is full of examples of hopelessly wrong predictions and one way out of this is to conclude that the present is determined by the future. Certainly the current management school fashion is to focus on purpose, people and process and away from detailed predictions with meaningless mission statements. The latest forecasts from the European Commission are safely vague and warn against information overload and disorientation. The predictions around 1980 of future publishing systems based on more powerful interconnected computers with the journal article moving through the publishing process in machine-readable form have now largely been fulfilled. Perhaps we can conclude that the promise of the future determines the present. Systems for searching the literature (discovery) are now much improved, with exciting innovations such as "search agents" (software that will search the WWW for required information) just round the corner. Once found, however, the delivery of an article still holds problems which may be resolved by Internet II. New primary publishing models are being tried but it is most likely that the electronic version of established journals will dominate as they have the status to attract the high quality work. The market will demand some value innovation in this change from delivering hard copy at a fixed subscription price to giving access to digital files with scope for new, and perhaps fairer, ways of charging. The new concept of the electronic textbook is also evolving, based on inter-action between the student and a comprehensive range of contents. These will be expensive to develop but may find favour with policy makers convinced that self-tuition systems will enable universities to teach more students at lower unit cost. In conclusion, once the speed of delivery matches the new discovery facilities there may be a period of slower development as we adapt to the new more powerful and efficient publishing systems and focus on the financial aspects and ways of evaluating published work.
|