Location intelligence powered Pest Occurrence Spatial Decision Support System for central agriculture decision makers with the capability to monitor, report from field about occurrence of pest on near real time and send advice to farmers on field Presented by: Kaushik Banerjee Zonal Manager - Stesalit

Stesalit is a vibrant group of more than 1000 professionals working in the field of core engineering, innovative electronics product design and major IT implementation services across different industry verticals. Stesalit IT Services Group is a key driver in implementing large scale IT projects in government sector encompassing GIS, ERP, embedded system integration and also providing IT consultancy services. The group is currently being appraised at SEI-CMM-Level III. Stesalit Engineering group currently is regarded as the premier research house in engineering and electronics design for Rail Road and Automotive Industry in India.

During last four decades India have been able to dramatically increase agricultural production leading to food self sufficiency. India have also seen a dramatic increase in pest attack, plant disease thus depriving the ever increasing population from fruits of such self sufficiency Stesalit team along with NCIPM made an innovative approach of integrating geospatial technology and electronics in designing and developing affordable Pest occurrence Decision support system. A solution that will help in reducing crop loss and add to economic growth. During last four decades India have been able to dramatically increase agricultural production leading to food self sufficiency. India have also seen a dramatic increase in pest attack, plant disease thus depriving the ever increasing population from fruits of such self sufficiency Stesalit team along with NCIPM made an innovative approach of integrating geospatial technology and electronics in designing and developing affordable Pest occurrence Decision support system. A solution that will help in reducing crop loss and add to economic growth.

Real Time Data Acquisition Instant Input to spatial framework WebGIS for quick analysis Instant Decision Calls Information to last layer-PEOPLE GSM Technology communication Faster Socio –Economic Development Effective Governance People’s GIS People’s GIS

It provides a means for sharing near real time pest outbreak thematic alerts, forecasts and other timely information between farmers, field personnel, managers, professionals, scientists and other stake holders. It provides single-site forecast and risk estimates across entire growing regions at the temporal and spatial scales necessary for helping growers reduce risk of pest losses, reduce pesticide use, and thus improve production economics It is expandable and transferable to any pest,crops and regions File uploading for real time web posting and digital diagnosis It provides a means for sharing near real time pest outbreak thematic alerts, forecasts and other timely information between farmers, field personnel, managers, professionals, scientists and other stake holders. It provides single-site forecast and risk estimates across entire growing regions at the temporal and spatial scales necessary for helping growers reduce risk of pest losses, reduce pesticide use, and thus improve production economics It is expandable and transferable to any pest,crops and regions File uploading for real time web posting and digital diagnosis

Spatial information transmitting component powered by Global positioning tool for reporting information as pest development status and buildup, levels of biocontrol agents, and other pest-related occurrences directly from field to experts and back to farmers with advice on near real time basis. Geospatial thematic report component powered by Web based geospatial tools and field report collection LED display board displaying inputs from analyst/experts about pest type and its remedy Spatial information transmitting component powered by Global positioning tool for reporting information as pest development status and buildup, levels of biocontrol agents, and other pest-related occurrences directly from field to experts and back to farmers with advice on near real time basis. Geospatial thematic report component powered by Web based geospatial tools and field report collection LED display board displaying inputs from analyst/experts about pest type and its remedy

Collect field data using hand held GPS Enabled PDA Synchronize data on hand held with desktop unit Data transferred from desktop computer to centralized database Data processed and analyzed The processed pest data is displayed as thematic map with Automated reports on demand using web component of the application Centralized database enables easy access to data by authorized users, and allows for easy comparisons of pest problems between institutions GSM/GPRS enabled LED display boards display suggestion from Pest control experts for the farmers Collect field data using hand held GPS Enabled PDA Synchronize data on hand held with desktop unit Data transferred from desktop computer to centralized database Data processed and analyzed The processed pest data is displayed as thematic map with Automated reports on demand using web component of the application Centralized database enables easy access to data by authorized users, and allows for easy comparisons of pest problems between institutions GSM/GPRS enabled LED display boards display suggestion from Pest control experts for the farmers

The web application comes with a map interface displaying thematically the current and historical All India Pest status The pest intensities is displayed with different colors and dotted markers The markers are clickable markers displaying information about locations and other data The data displayed is updated on real time basis The web application comes with the flexibility to choose between state level, district level or subdivision level and accordingly the thematic data is displayed. The web application allows the user to select crop type, pest type, pest intensity, survey type and display thematic map accordingly. The web application is well equipped with basic GIS tool for panning, zooming the map Functionality to display thematic map within buffer area of interest. The application comes with simple easy to use interface to upload data from PDA device to Central Server The web application comes with a map interface displaying thematically the current and historical All India Pest status The pest intensities is displayed with different colors and dotted markers The markers are clickable markers displaying information about locations and other data The data displayed is updated on real time basis The web application comes with the flexibility to choose between state level, district level or subdivision level and accordingly the thematic data is displayed. The web application allows the user to select crop type, pest type, pest intensity, survey type and display thematic map accordingly. The web application is well equipped with basic GIS tool for panning, zooming the map Functionality to display thematic map within buffer area of interest. The application comes with simple easy to use interface to upload data from PDA device to Central Server

GPS Enabled PDA component Built in high sensitivity GPS receiver. High Resolution Monochrome/Color Graphic LCD – 320x240 pixels, size (160x108x30 mm ) User Friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Alpha numeric keypad with 25 keys. Data viewing and editing option before saving the recorded data into the Memory. USB connectivity in device mode for data down load from the PDA to the PC or up load from PC to PDA. Built in nonvolatile memory 1GB with FAT file system support. Micro SD card slot for memory expansion or backup Built in high sensitivity GPS receiver. High Resolution Monochrome/Color Graphic LCD – 320x240 pixels, size (160x108x30 mm ) User Friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Alpha numeric keypad with 25 keys. Data viewing and editing option before saving the recorded data into the Memory. USB connectivity in device mode for data down load from the PDA to the PC or up load from PC to PDA. Built in nonvolatile memory 1GB with FAT file system support. Micro SD card slot for memory expansion or backup

GPS Enabled PDA component Built in Li-ion reachable battery with 7.4V, 4000 mAh and 8 hours backup time. Plug in Battery charger adaptor with 230V 50 Hz ac input and 10V DC, 1A output LED indication for low battery and GPS receiver signals indication. Built in buzzer for low battery and key sensing signals indication. Portable and light weight: Less than 750gm Built in 32 bit ARM based CPU with 50MHz speed Mechanical dimensions HxWxD (280x110x35)mm Environmental conditions Operating temperature - 0°C to 50°C Storage temperature - 20°C to +70°C Built in Li-ion reachable battery with 7.4V, 4000 mAh and 8 hours backup time. Plug in Battery charger adaptor with 230V 50 Hz ac input and 10V DC, 1A output LED indication for low battery and GPS receiver signals indication. Built in buzzer for low battery and key sensing signals indication. Portable and light weight: Less than 750gm Built in 32 bit ARM based CPU with 50MHz speed Mechanical dimensions HxWxD (280x110x35)mm Environmental conditions Operating temperature - 0°C to 50°C Storage temperature - 20°C to +70°C

Major Features of the PDA Application PDA runs on some setup files created by the server based application. The PDA application changes as per setup file received from server, no need of change the PDA application. Data transfer from Server to device and device to server is done by user friendly interfaces. Setup part of the PDA application is password protected for security. The PDA application is as per current practices running on the ground. PDA runs on some setup files created by the server based application. The PDA application changes as per setup file received from server, no need of change the PDA application. Data transfer from Server to device and device to server is done by user friendly interfaces. Setup part of the PDA application is password protected for security. The PDA application is as per current practices running on the ground.

Major Features of the Server Application All features like Crop, Season, Pest, Center, User is modifiable by the server application. Data transfer from Server to device is done by user friendly interfaces. Setup part of the PDA application is password protected for security. All features like Crop, Season, Pest, Center, User is modifiable by the server application. Data transfer from Server to device is done by user friendly interfaces. Setup part of the PDA application is password protected for security.

Major Features of the Server Application

Web Component Interface

Web Component Thematic Interface

Web Component Village Plotting Interface

Web Component Pest Movement Interface

Web Component Pest Intensity Interface

NCIPM's awareness-cum-surveillance project helped reduce the pest-infected area in Maharashtra by 67 per cent, Maharashtra, especially the Vidarbha region, is infamous for farmers' suicides due to frequent crop failures as a result of adverse weather and pest attack. In the last kharif season, too, the weather was unfavorable due to drought, and pest build-up was fairly menacing. But for a change, instead of losing their crops, most farmers bagged relatively bigger harvests of cotton and soya bean, the two predominant crops of the region. This transformation was the result of meticulous monitoring of the proliferation of pests and crop situation, followed by timely technical advice to the farmers on how to combat the emerging threat. The use of information technology for quicker communication of advisories to the farmers helped them take timely action to check pest attacks and also mitigate the impact of deficient rainfall on crops. A path-breaking programm of surveillance and awareness creation was launched for this purpose by the New Delhi-based National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM) in 28 districts of Maharashtra where soya bean and cotton crops are predominantly grown.

This centre, along with three other research institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and three agricultural universities, provided the technical guidance and arranged for training of the personnel of the state agricultural department in integrated pest management (IPM) technology. The state department carried out the field activities with the help of selected volunteer farmers. Over 270 situation-specific technical advisories were disseminated through SMSs to five elite farmers in each of about 30,000 villages to spread the messages to nearly 2 lakh farmers. According to NCIPM director O M Bambawale, this massive project succeeded in achieving its objective because of the wholehearted support of the state agriculture department. Technology to cope with the pests and other adverse conditions is available; but the technical advice based on this technology normally does not reach the farmers in time. This programm removed that hurdle.

Faced with repeated crop failures due to the attack of pests like American bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera), tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura), semiloopers, beetles and others, a large number of farmers in Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha, had replaced cotton with soyabean in recent years. Consequently, soya bean now occupies almost the same acreage (3 million hectares) as does cotton. In , the Vidarbha region witnessed an epidemic of these pests, causing massive damage to soya bean in an area of about 7.5 lakh hectares. The aggregate monetary loss to the farmers was assessed at over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion). The government's compensation package of about Rs 401 crore (Rs 4.01 billion) could only partially offset the farmers' actual losses. However, this adversity spurred the state agriculture department to gear itself up for averting a repeat of this by involving the research institutes in preparing and implementing suitable crop- and pest-management strategies in kharif season. The awareness-cum-surveillance project, prepared by the NCIPM, involved regular monitoring of pest build-up in the fields by the trained personnel to identify hotspots of pest infestation and prompt adoption of the remedial management strategies. The available pesticide supplies were diverted to the heavily pest-infested spots.

The net result was a significant 67 per cent decrease in area reporting pest population in excess of the economic threshold limit (ETL) in as compared to Even the areas where the pest population crossed the threshold level, the pests were managed effectively to keep the economic losses to the minimum. This is claimed to have led to a productivity increase of nearly 19 per cent over the previous year despite a prolonged dry spell of 27 days, between July 24 and August 19, 2009, which affected the flowering and pod formation in the soyabean crop. The monetary gains to the growers are reckoned by the NCIPM at over Rs 1,047 crore (Rs billion). Encouraged by the outcome of this project, the Maharashtra government, as also the Centre, now wants this model of surveillance-cum-technical advice to be replicated elsewhere as well. While Maharashtra wants the programme to continue on a regular basis, the Centre is going to launch a similar programme in states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and south-western Uttar Pradesh for the two main pulse crops, chick pea (chana) and pigeon pea (tur or arhar). However, to achieve success, the agriculture departments of the states would have to galvanise their otherwise lethargic field staff for implementing this programme as sincerely as was done in Maharashtra. Otherwise, even this well-conceived scientific strategy would meet its Waterloo.