Development of expert system to diagnose rice diseases in Meghalaya state

Abstract

We aim to develop an expert system (ES) to the farmers in Meghalaya state for managing rice diseases. The rice diseases prevailing in this area were identified and confirmed after discussion with the domain experts and interacting with the farmers through structured interview schedule. The diagnosed rice diseases were Blast (Pyricularia grisea), Brown Spot (Drechslera oryzae), Sheath Rot (Sarocladium oryzae), Sheath Blight (Rhizoctonia solani) and False Smut (Ustilaginoidea virens). The system is designed and developed using Hypertext pre-processor (PHP) as front-end software and MySQL as back-end software. The pictures and remedial measures of the diseases were stored in the database and can be retrieved whenever necessary. The challenge is to make the farmers to listen the rice ES and to get the advice related to the rice diseases. The constraint here is to develop the ES in local languages so that farmers can operate the ES by themselves and get expert advice from the system. The relevant content and recommendations were validated with the help of concerned experts from College of Post Graduate Studies, Central Agricultural University and also from Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya. This rice ES has created awareness about rice diseases and their management among farmers in Meghalaya that shall increase the yield by reducing the disease incidence.