Web-based DSS on Rice Nutrient

Management and Mapping of Soil NutrientDeficiencies in Agusan del Sur Rice Growing
Barangays
Presented by:
Ace Angelo C. Montecalvo

1. Introduction
Rice

has always been one of the major crops the

country produces. Nutrient management in rice
production plays a vital role in producing quality
crops.

Rice

plants need the right combination of nutrients

to live and grow. When rice plants suffer from
malnutrition, they show symptoms of being
unhealthy. Too little or too much of any one nutrient
can cause problems.

1. Introduction
It

is important to identify the nutrient

disorder especially in the vegetative
stage of the rice crop.

With

this to consider the researcher

wishes to create a Decision Support
System (DSS) to assist in the soil nutrient
management on rice areas in Agusan del
Sur.

1. Introduction

The project by PhilRice (Philippine Rice Research

Institute) entitled Determination of Soil Fertility Status of
Major Rice Growing Areas in Caraga Region Using Minus-One
Element Techique (MOET) (C. A. Mabayag & SM Paculba, et. al.
2012) conducted the survey to determine the limiting soils
nutrients in major rice growing areas of two major rice growing
provinces in Caraga Region (Agusan del Sur and Agusan del
Norte).

With the data from the said study a centralized database of the
common nutrient-deficiencies of Agusan del Sur will be
created.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

There is a need for a Decision Support System for Agusan del

Sur on rice nutrient management.

1. There is no centralized database for keeping the data

collected by PhilRice on the common soil nutrient
deficiencies in Agusan del Sur.

2. There are no charts, graphs and printable reports that will

inform planners, extension workers, and farmers of the soil
nutrient deficiencies, annually, in each rice growing
barangays of Agusan del Sur.

3. There is no map that shows the soil nutrient deficiencies of

the rice growing barangays of Agusan del Sur.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to develop a Decision Support

System on soil nutrient management for Agusan del Sur rice
growing barangays.

1. Create a centralized database of the most common limiting

soil nutrients in major lowland rice growing barangays in Agusan
del Sur.

2. Develop a dynamic system that generates charts, graphs and

printable reports that will inform PhilRice workers of the soil
nutrient deficiencies, annually, in each barangays of Agusan del
Sur.

3. Develop a system that generates a map on the location of

common limiting soil nutrients in major lowland rice growing
barangays in Agusan del Sur.

1.4 Significance of the Study

It aims to database the soil fertility of the major rice

growing areas of Agusan del Sur so that planners, extension
workers, and farmers would have birds-eye-view of the
whole soil fertility status of their locality and province
that could aid them in decision-making for appropriate
interventions, particularly on nutrient management.

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study intends to develop a Web-based Decision

Support System for Agusan del Sur rice growing barangays.

It will have a map of the common limiting soil nutrients in

Agusan del Sur rice growing barangays.

These soil nutrients, needed by the rice plant, include

Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Zinc (Zn),
Sulfur (S) and Copper (Cu). Studies show that many rice
areas in the country had soils that are deficient with two or
more essential elements, i.e., N, P, K, S and Zn (Descalsota
1999; Nemeo et al., 2011).

2. Review of Related
Literature

2.1 Crop Nutrient Management Decision Support System: India

This study has shown that ICTs when appropriately harnessed can
increase farmers access to information. Tailor-made information
to individual farmers can improve farm productivity. Farmers still
need to attain greater level of awareness on new crops and
management practices and mobile phones can be the vehicle to
support this. Farmers are interested in bundled services providing
a variety of information related to crop production, processing and
sale. This study also indicates the importance of socially
embedding the technology with the help of local institutions to
effectively address information needs of farmers.

2. Review of Related
Literature

2.2 A Web-based Blood Donor Management and Monitoring System

with Mapping Capability

The study was the automation of records of blood donors within the
whole region of Caraga. The objectives were successfully
accomplished with the integration of different software components.

There are some presentations of different historical data by the use

of visualization like bar charts, line graph and maps.

Integrating mapping capability for the system gives more

functionality and quick assessment of distribution of blood donors
throughout the region. Thus, it makes decision making and
management much easier for it visualized blood donor status
for each city and municipality within the Caraga region.

3. Methodology
3.1 System Development
3.1.1 Data Gathering

PhilRice developed a reliable, low-cost, and easy alternative

technique for diagnosing nutrient limitation called the Minus-One
Element Technique (MOET) in determining the fertility status of
the soil. They used this technique to identify the soil nutrientdeficiencies of Caraga Region (Agusan del Sur and Agusan del
Norte). The researcher then gathered the necessary data from
PhilRice.

Barangay

1 Saguma

Sta. Irene

Salvacion

San Isidro

Charito
Noli

5
6

Deficiencies Observed

Target
No. of
Farmers
14

14

12
5

Name of Farmer

MOET Results Remarks

1 Edgar Allen
2 Gloria Enot

Dried, no biomass taken

Okay

3 Flora Sanchez

Okay

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Ronald Florida
Reynaldo Torres
Rodolfo Ermac
Elisea Casol
Elsa Romo
Ricardo Dapetilla
Efledo Jamuro
Maxima Dapetilla
Thelma Enot
Jejobel Juntilla
Noel Caminade

15 Mario Tariga

Okay, damaged later

Okay
Okay
Okay
Okay, but did not tiller much
Okay
Okay
Okay
Okay
Okay
Okay
Okay

Figure 1. Bayugan City MOET Results (2012)

Zn

Cu

N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N

P
P
P

K
K

Zn

Cu

Zn; 2%

Cu; 1%
S; 7%

K; 20%

N; 47%

P; 23%

Figure 2. Agusan del Surs Soil Nutrient

Deficiency Graph (2012)
Figure 2 shows the percentage of MOET-tested rice areas that showed
deficiencies of the different soil nutrients in Agusan del Sur province.

Methodology

3.1.2 Data Analysis and Possible Solution

The researcher will use the data gathered to create the

system and database. MySQL, an open-source relational
database management system (RDBMS), will be used as
the local database.

An online database is needed for the mapping feature to

integrate it to Google Maps. Google Fusion Table is a
Web service provided by Google for data management.
Data is stored in multiple tables that Internet users can
view and download. There are also extensions available
to expand its features and functionalities such as Fusion
Table Layer Wizard, Fusion Table Layer Builder and
Google Fusion Maps.

To begin maneuvering Fusion Table, the geospatial data

should be converted into polygons to be accumulated in a
table by the use of www.shpescape.com, it will
automatically upload the converted geospatial data to
Google Fusion Table.

The uploaded geospatial data only consists of polygons

representing each barangay and its corresponding name in
Agusan del Sur. And other important data such as farmer
name, percentage, total number of each nutrient
deficiencies in each barangay and etc. were recorded
separately. These data are needed to be merged with the
uploaded geospatial data to visualize the map in the web
through Google Fusion Table.

Methodology

Development of Visualized Presentations and Reports

An offline software application will be used in making
interactive charts and graphs for visualizing and decision
making purposes. Fusion Chart XT produces exciting
animation, smart designs and rich interactivity charts and
it is free for non-profitable organizations/ purposes.
Fusion Chart XT is capable of generating a PHP code that
can be embedded to the PHP file. To start maneuvering
Fusion Chart XT, the generated code is used and altered
and then connect it to the local database.

Methodology

Design and Development of Mapping System for the

Location of Common Nutrient Deficiencies in Agusan del
Sur

The researcher will use Google Fusion Table to visualize

the map of the location of the common nutrient deficiencies
in Agusan del Sur. Google Fusion Tablesis a service for data
management, integration and collaboration.The data sets can
easily be uploaded from CSV, KML and spreadsheets, and
visualize the data using a variety of tools. Users can merge
data from multiple tables and conduct detailed discussions
about the data (on rows, columns and even cells). Also
developers can easily visualize large data sets on Google Maps
and embed visualizations on other web pages.

Developers can also use the Fusion Tables API to insert,

update, delete and query data programmatically. Data
can be exported as CSV or KML too. After the data has
been uploaded, the map can be viewed instantly. This
map can be embedded in web page or blog post the
Google will generate automatically a link for the map or
an html code for an exact display of the map. It will
always display the latest data values from the selected
table.

End.