Agricultural Information Resources Research Articles

Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland

Abstract The sugar industry is the dominant agricultural sector in Swaziland’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product. Provision of relevant and timely information to smallholder sugarcane farmers is crucial for them to have a competitive footing with large-scale counterparts and reduce poverty. However, there is limited literature on the information needs and the kind of information communication resources that could make the dissemination of information to farmers efficient and effective. This study thus aims to investigate the information needs and resources of smallholder sugarcane farmers in Swaziland to inform the provision of information services in the sugar industry. It was underpinned by a positivist paradigm and used the survey research method complemented by methodological triangulation to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected using survey questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, with 168 responses and six interviews conducted. The findings revealed that 71 % of information needs of farmers were primarily in legislative compliance, sugarcane crop husbandry, markets and transport, and financial advice information, however, there were no statistically significant differences between the three mill groups in information needs. The smallholder sugarcane farmers also mostly obtained agricultural information through extension officers, farmer groups, and mobile phones, indicating that required information was mainly accessed through face-to-face interactions. The empirical findings of the study have implications for practice, policy, and theory with respect to guiding the implementation of agricultural information services by information providers in the context of rural farmers in developing countries.

Research on Improving the Optimization System of Agricultural and Forestry Resource Allocation Management Measures by Using Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithm

At present, there are some problems in the use of forestry resource database, such as large amount of data and data centralization, which leads to the low efficiency of the system. Therefore, an application software platform for forestry informatization is built based on optimized Hadoop cluster. The system consists of four parts: permission management, file management, interface management and data processing. In this paper, a control strategy FDMDR is designed, which implements dynamic copy management according to user access frequency. A method of file access frequency limit based on DMDR is proposed, and the data in the system is processed dynamically. The experiment proves that the system can integrate traditional files, images, videos and other contents organically. The system has achieved a better integration of traditional agricultural information resources. It has good performance and scalability.

Security Measures in Meeting Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Agricultural Science Students in Nigerian Universities

Security measures play a significant role in the accessibility and use of agricultural information resources among undergraduate science students in Nigeria. This results in overcoming obstacles to valuable information required by agricultural students to cultivate their products that would replicate food substances in the Nigerian economy. Nonetheless, unauthorised individuals have pervaded access to information that is meant for agricultural science students due to a lack of security of such information. There are unlimited assets and products to which agricultural students have access; hence, this paper investigates security measures in meeting information needs and seeking behaviour of agricultural science students in Nigerian universities. The paper employed a qualitative research method based on the explanatory research method. In so doing, the use of a systematic literature review was adopted to examine the information needs and seeking behaviour of agricultural students in Nigeria and again to find out the security measures put in place to ensure valuable information and preventive approaches to unauthorised individuals are sustained. Using a purposive sampling technique, the authors collected articles published between 2015 and 2023 on databases of Emerald and ResearchGate for the review. Findings reveal that agricultural science students in Nigerian universities have a diverse range of preferred information sources. Findings further reveal that students engage in information-seeking behaviour for various purposes, such as course assignments, practical experiments, exam preparation, general reading, discussions, seminars, workshops, conferences, and research projects. Challenges in information-seeking behaviour include inadequate access to current information materials and uncooperative attitudes of librarians and lecturers. The study concludes that security measures are crucial in shaping how students access information. The study recommends that universities ensure a balance between print and electronic resources to cater to students’ varied preferences to accommodate comprehensive support for their research and studies in the university environment. This would enhance sustainable security measures and accessibility to varied information resources for the students.

Role of Libraries as Sources for Information by Farmers in Ogbomoso Oyo State Nigeria

The study investigated the role of libraries as sources of information for farmers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 respondents, of whom 142 (95%) responded and were valid for the analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data using a percentage table. Findings showed that 54.3% of the respondents use library resources as their information sources, while 45.7% do not use library resources. This implied that there was little disparity between those farmers who use libraries and those who do not use libraries as their information sources. Further, negative attitudes by farmers toward the use of libraries, inadequate agricultural information resources in the libraries to meet farmer needs, a low level of ICT skill by farmers to access agricultural information resources in their comfort zones, inadequate time to visit libraries and the long distance of library locations were major problems militating against the farmers use of library resources. While proper information repackaging, adequate education on the use of ICT tools should be given to farmers toward the use of library as their information sources, every library should equip their library with resources on agricultural information, a specialist agricultural librarian should be encouraged by the libraries to meet the needs of farmers; libraries should also encourage mobile services in order to bring library services closer to farmers; and farmers should also be encouraged to find time to visit the library so as to get the latest information on new agricultural innovation documents.

An Assessment on the Information Needs and Seeking Behaviours of Rural Farmers in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria

This study investigated assessment on the information needs and seeking behaviours of farmers in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. There were four primary goals for the study and four related research topics that helped direct the investigation. Descriptive survey methodology was utilized in this research, with a questionnaire serving as the primary data collector. There were 2,000 farmers in the population, and 190 of them were randomly selected to be in the sample. The information was gathered with the use of a well-structured questionnaire. Farmers in Jos North Local Government Area face challenges like a language barrier, insufficient extension services/workers, and an inaccessible agricultural information infrastructure, among others, according to the study’s findings. Farmers previously relied on word of mouth, cooperative societies, family, and friends for agricultural advice. It was determined that the agricultural information resources available to farmers in the Jos North LGA of Plateau State are uninspiring. There is a lack of language support, extension worker services, financial support, public awareness, and current information that prevents farmers in the Jos North LGA from making informed decisions. Many suggestions were made, including that politicians at all three levels of government keep their word, that rural areas establish adult education programs, that agricultural agents, such as extension workers, be made available in all rural areas, and that the government hire and send extension workers to the countryside to help them produce higher-quality crops.

Agricultural Information Management Data Model Construction Based on Cloud Computing and Semantic Technology

In order to improve the data retrieval and mining ability of agricultural information management system, an agricultural information management data model based on cloud computing and semantic technology was proposed. Fuzzy C-means algorithm is used for adaptive fusion and clustering of semantic association features of distributed data in large-scale information management systems; feature compressors are used to reduce the storage space dimension of large-scale information management system to improve the target data mining capability and adaptive scheduling capability of information management system. The registration rate improves than the traditional method by 12.46% and computational cost by 23.76%. This method has higher accuracy in storage data mining and retrieval for large information management systems and superior performance than the traditional method. The introduction of the concept and technical methods of related data is the best practice to realize the fine disclosure, standardized description, semantic organization, and in-depth integration of massive agricultural science and technology information resources, which will play an important role in improving the visibility, visibility, and accessibility of agricultural information resources. It is innovative in the construction of the multidimensional semantic-related model and field knowledge service system driven by related data.

Utilisation of remote sensing and geographic information system for compiling of agricultural land resources database in sragen regency

Availability of accurate information on agricultural land resources in Indonesia is important. An alternative method is needed to provide agricultural resource information quickly and accurately. The use of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is expected to be an alternative method as a basis for compiling a database of agricultural information resources, specifically carrying capacity of agricultural land. Availability of a database of carrying capacity of agricultural land is important, to realise sustainable development, spatial planning must be based on environmental carrying capacity. The research objectives are (1). Compile the database for carrying capacity in Sragen Regency (2). Analysing the utilisation of remote sensing and GIS as the basis for compiling a database of carrying capacity for agricultural land in Sragen Regency. The main data source of the research is satellite imagery. Data collection methods used are image interpretation, field observations, interviews, and documentation. The research approach is used spatial description. The results of the study are: (1) The compilation of a database of land carrying capacity of Sragen Regency (2). Remote sensing satellite imagery and GIS can be used as the basis for compiling the database for the carrying capacity of the agricultural land in Sragen Regency.

Application of Intelligent Recommendation for Agricultural Information: A Systematic Literature Review

With the ever-growing volume of online information, recommender system has been an effective strategy to overcome such information overload. Recommender systems are widely used in many web applications, such as e-commerce, news, agriculture and other fields. Agricultural informatization is an important driving force for the development of agricultural modernization. With the further improvement of agricultural informatization infrastructure construction, the use of modern information technology to achieve personalized agricultural information resource recommendation services and providing users with timely and effective information has become an effective solution. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of recent research efforts on application of agricultural information based on intelligent recommender systems. Firstly, the method of content analysis used in this article to sort out the papers is introduced. Secondly, the background concepts of recommender systems and the key technologies are presented. Thirdly, the applications of recommender systems/technologies for agricultural information are described in detail. Finally, a summary and outlook on the application of recommender systems for agricultural information are provided.

Research on Contextual Recommendation System of Agricultural Science and Technology Resource Based on User Portrait

Under the new situation of rapid development of information technology and increasingly diversified demands of farmers, agricultural information service is also faced with many problems, such as the traditional information service system is difficult to quickly and accurately find the information required by users in the mass information, and the universal information service form cannot meet the growing personalized needs of users. In view of the above problems, this paper explores the application of user portrait technology in agriculture. Through in-depth analysis of the purpose of drawing portrait of agricultural users, characteristics of the agricultural industry and actual needs of agricultural information service, it builds a user portrait model in the agricultural field. At the same time, the situational recommendation system of agricultural science and technology resources based on user portraits is constructed by comprehensively considering the influence of multidimensional situational factors such as the time, geographical location, categories of agricultural production and changes in users’ interests on the demand for agricultural information resources. Through practical application, the system realizes the individualized recommendation of agricultural information resources based on situational awareness and user interest adaptation, and satisfies the individualized demand of agricultural users for agricultural information better.

Agricultural information resource scheduling algorithm based on firefly algorithm in cloud computing

For the problem of slow scheduling speed and poor load balancing of agricultural information resource scheduling in the current cloud computing, an agricultural information resource scheduling algorithm based on firefly algorithm is proposed in this

The practice of agricultural information resources construction in Beijing

The practice of agricultural information resources construction in Beijing

Research on Intelligent Retrieval System for agricultural information resources based on ontology

With the rapid development of computer technology and Internet, agricultural information resources are exploding. The traditional information retrieval based on keyword matching lacks semantic analysis ability and semantic extension ability, resulting in a large number of missed and false detection of retrieval resources and low retrieval efficiency. Based on the framework of Scientific and Technological Knowledge Organization (STKOS), this paper constructs the ontology of agricultural domain and applies domain ontology in semantic annotation, query extension and result sorting. On this basis, the paper constructs an intelligent retrieval system of agricultural information resources based on domain ontology, in order to improve the retrieval efficiency of agricultural information resources and improve user satisfaction.

Review of software applications for agricultural production in Croatia

The application of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) to the agriculture sector has been greatly increased in the last decade. The ICT technologies have become an essential part of any business. Using Internet on mobile devices can prove to be essential in agriculture production. A new generation of mobile devices are lower in price and more user-friendly. This paper provides an overview of software applications that are created in Croatia and are mostly in the Croatian language. They are divided into groups of agriculture related applications; agriculture management information apps; agriculture information resource apps; agriculture calculator apps; agriculture news apps, weather apps. The research shows the agri-apps are still in its infancy and we can say that it reflects the state of agriculture in Croatia. Apps are a promising solution for farmers enabling them quick and trustworthy access to information. At the moment, further analyses are needed for scientific proof and improvement of a product

TerminalsResearch and Implementation of Agricultural Information Recommendation System Based on Situational Awareness

With the development of mobile Internet and the popularity of smartphones, the mobile phone has become the preferred tool for farmers to get information online instead of computers. Therefore, the use of mobile phone to solve the information transmission “last kilometer” problem, will be the most convenient and efficient way. On the basis of possessing a large quantity of high quality agricultural information resources, this paper makes deep processing of information, at the same time, based on mobile terminals, collects the multidimensional factors such as real-time situation information, user history browsing behavior and interest, expands vector space model, designs the agricultural information recommendation algorithm of situational perception and interest adaptation. Finally, the research and development of agricultural information recommendation system is realized. This system will provide farmers with accurate agricultural science and technology information and expert intelligence to meet the needs of thousands of people.

Study Agricultural Information Sources for Extension Agents in Plant Production Field at El-Behira Governorate

The objective of this research is to identify the agricultural information resources to extension agents in plant production field at Beheira governorate. This is done by: (a) To determine the degree of exposure of the respondents to the information sources conveying agricultural knowledge in the field of plant production. (B) The degree to which the subjects deal, appropriateness and credibility with the sources of knowledge of agricultural knowledge in the field of plant production. Four distrects were chosen randomly: Damanhour, Abu Homs, Mahmudiya and Shubra Khit. All the agricultural extension workers were surveyed in these four administrative centers. And then a sample of 20% of the total was taken, reaching 50. The percentage of each of the four centers in that sample was determined and a random random sample was drawn from the fact that the agricultural extension lists were in these centers. The main findings were as follows:The majority of the respondents (82%) were the middle and high exposure categories. More than three quarters of the respondents (78%) were of the middle and high categories, the majority of respondents (82%) agree with the appropriate sources of knowledge to them at a medium and high level, and the majority of respondents (82%) recognize the credibility of the sources of agricultural knowledge

Design and Implementation of Agricultural Information Resources Vertical Search Engine Based on Nutch

To solve the problems in traditional search engine like large returning number, bad professionalism and low precision, we analyse the working principles of Nutch open source search engine. FMM algorithm is adopted based on word library, and key-word based vector space model is adopted to make topic relevance judgment. Then the key word is extended base on ontology to improve the sorting results. So Nutch-based agricultural vertical search engine is designed, with implementation of agricultural domain ontology on the information acquisition and filtering, retrieval and similar terms recommending of search engine. The experimental results show that our agricultural search engine can improve the precision of user retrieval and satisfies the professional demand of user.

ABCs of Diversifying Information Resources among Rice Smallholders of Ghana

Purpose: We investigated how information resource diversification can enhance smallholder agricultural knowledge in Ghana.Design/Methodology/Approach: Study tools and methods were questionnaire survey (N = 200), focus group discussion (N = 1), in-depth interviews (N = 18) and field direct observation.Findings: This study shows there existed diversity of information resources in Hohoe. This diversity was, however, devoid of a broad integration process to enhance smallholder access to and use of agricultural information. We demonstrate that new information channels or sources cannot function independently, but rather through an integrated approach that relies on a human facet of extension.Practical Implications: We illustrate the need for integrated extension that includes interactive field modules such as basic cell phone decision guides that support smallholder construction of solutions for their circumstances. This process requires new sets of smallholder skills and holistic extension schemes that diversify information resources through incorporation and adaptation, rather than substitution. New information resources can only be gradually mainstreamed through integration with more familiar extension means. They need a human interface because smallholder householders did not require same types and/or amounts of information. Human interface is essential to ensure critical groups including women access and utilise agricultural information resources, but without entrenching unfair task allocations among smallholder householders.Originality/Value: This paper illustrates how extension can be strengthened through new approaches. However, new approaches such as use of basic cell phones cannot be standalone processes; they require a human interface and an integrated process. The article presents actual data collected from the Ghana.

Allocation of Agricultural Information Resources Based on the Demand of Farmers

As information is an important factor of modern society, researches on agricultural information resources have a great meaning to improve the development of modern agricultural. With the purposes to improve the effective utilization of agricultural information resources ,the paper take farmers in Jiangxi Province of China as an example to explore the way how to allocate agriculture information resources based on demand of farmers. The paper reviewed on the relative theory of information allocation, and analyzed the demand characteristics of farmers on agricultural information resources. Finally, the paper provides suitable advice on the allocation of agricultural information resources based on the analysis above.

Study on Counties Agricultural Economic Intelligent Decision-Making Support System (IDSS) Based on GIS and Knowledge

Aiming at the complex and diverse agricultural information resources, the article proposes a kind of intelligent and scientific agricultural economic analysis method and tool combining the various information technologies, which can improve the level of modern agricultural information management. A universal and compatible counties agricultural economic intelligent decision-making system based on GIS and knowledge is constructed to characterize and analyze agricultural economic spatial and temporal distribution of counties, which introduces multiple agricultural economic analyzing models combining the quantitative analysis of agricultural economic monitoring subsystem with the qualitative analysis of knowledge subsystem. The system utilizes C#.NET as development platform, and the secondary development technology of GIS that helps in the design of the agricultural economic intelligent decision support system, which provides efficient decision support for agricultural economic management sectors.

Research and Application of Cloud Computing Technology in Agricultural Information Resources Sharing Service

In order to realize the sharing of agricultural information resources and improve the level of agricultural information service in Jilin Province, this paper introduces cloud computing technology into the construction of agricultural information resources sharing service. Firstly, introduce the concept, service forms and architecture of cloud computing. Secondly, establish the agricultural information resources sharing cloud service platform and analysis the agricultural information consultation mode in cloud computing environment. Finally, analysis the advantages and significance of cloud computing technology in agricultural information resources sharing.