Development of a diagnostic key for tropical rice disorders

• Research Insitute for Rice, Indonesia
• International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
• Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines

This project took existing but dispersed data on rice disorders of all sorts (growth stresses, nutrient disorders, pests, diseases, etc.) and collated them within a highly user-friendly, computer-based diagnostic key using LucID software. The intention was give anyone who needed to solve problems of rice disorders a unified and easy-to-use source of complete information and problem diagnosis. No single source and tool of this nature had previously been available. LucID technology, developed in Australia by the University of Queensland, is now recognised as world-leading for this type of diagnostic information presentation and processing.

Specific objectives were: to develop the logical structure for the key; to obtain relevant information on all disorders of tropical rice (text and graphics); to develop a prototype key and field-test it in a training course on rice disorder diagnosis; to refine the key into a definitive version and prepare it for availability on the Web.

The project involved an initial specification workshop followed by the collection of text and images to be used as support material in making a diagnosis and development of the key. Once prototype keys had been developed, a workshop was held at PhilRice, Nueva Ecija, in the Philippines to trial the keys and to test their use by extension agents from different locations in the Philippines, who were attending a training course at PhilRice. Subsequently 30 participants, half of whom had already participated in the workshop at PhilRice, were invited to take part in the field-testing,.
Prior to field-testing, participants were invited to an orientation session. A survey of the participants in the field-testing provided valuable feedback that was incorporated as much as possible in the final products. This enabled the project scientists to progress to a working diagnostic key, field-tested and ready for further testing and distribution.
While the main focus was on a software approach to this problem, the process of developing a LucID diagnostic key generated information of value for alternative approaches, such as a paper-based diagnostic chart.

The main output from the project was the parallel development of two 'Rice Doctor' products - an on-line (flow chart) diagnostic key, situated on the IRRI KnowledgeBank Internet site, and a LucID (matrix) diagnostic key designed to be available on CD and the Internet.
The on-line 'Rice Doctor' key is now available for users to access across the Internet - it can be accessed at the following site -http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ricedoctor_mx/ricedoctor.htm
The LucID matrix key is to be incorporated in the next version of the CD product - RiceIPM - published jointly between CBIT and IRRI (see more information on http://www.cbit.uq.edu.au/software/riceipm/). This LucID key version of 'Rice Doctor' will also be made available on the Internet.
Both diagnostic keys allow users to systematically diagnose specific field problems by selecting those features and symptoms they observe in the crop. As features are selected, a short list of likely causes of the problem is filtered out from over 80 possible causes. The LucID key includes numerous images to help users diagnose their problems and access relevant information about the problem.
The features and symptoms that might be observed are defined and illustrated by notes and images. Both keys provide access to summary information sheets and full information sheets that contain images, text descriptions of symptoms and signs and other information about particular insect pests, plant diseases, nutrient disorders and other causes of rice crop problems.