Software

The Weed Control Advisor (WCA) is an expert system that is designed to help the user with weed control decisions throughout the year in the rice production areas in Texas. The weed complex considered in the WCA includes 23 of the most important weeds in Texas rice production.  The WCA accounts for weed species, weed size, rice growth stage, rice size, water management practices, herbicide history and environmental conditions. The WCA provides a list of recommended herbicides, weed control strategies, and explanations of why herbicides are recommended or not recommended.

Input Data

Weed Control Advisor requires the following data:

Options: Alligatorweed, Ammania, Barnyardgrass, Cocklebur, Crabgrass, Dayflower, Ducksalad, Eclipta, False Pimpernel, Fimbristylis, Flatsedges, Gooseweed, Hemp Sesbania, Jointvetch, Morningglory, Red Rice, Signalgrass, Smart weed, Spikerush, Sprangletop, Texasweed, Water Hyssop, Yellow Nutsedge

Options: Land has been prepared, Flood established for planting, Flush is in progress, Flush has been drained, Rice plants established, Flood established at mid-season, Flood drained for harvest

Options: Preplant, Seeded but not germinated, Germinated (less than 4 days), Germinated (more than 4 days), Spike/Needle Stage, 2-Leaf Stage, 3-Leaf Stage, 4-Leaf Stage, 5-Leaf to first tiller, Second tiller, Third tiller, 4th to 5th tiller, Panicle differenciation, Boot Stage, Milk Stage, Seed Maturity, Maturity

User is required to select a method among Conventional Flood, Continuos Flood or Pinpoint Flood practices.

This is the most intense input screen which is divided under the following sections:  Herbicides and Insecticides, Rice Variety, Harvesting, Soil Properties, Growing Conditions, Water and Irrigation.

As soon as the user starts making selections for crop and field conditions, WCA automatically creates a new temporary document called ‘Field Database’. It is the user’s choice to save this file before terminating the program.  If the user omits some selections through input screens, WCA uses the default data to complete the current database.

Program Output

• The top-left section displays the list of recommended herbicides and choices to view additional information. As soon as the user clicks on any herbicide on the list, all the information for this herbicide is ready to browse.

• The top-right window displays a table where each problem weed occupies a row. When the user clicks on ‘Effectiveness’ button on the top-left window, he/she can view the contact and residual effect of the selected herbicide for each problem weed.

• The bottom-right window displays warnings, application information, application rate and working mechanism of a recommended herbicide. The reason why any unfavorable herbicide is not recommended can also be viewed on this section.

• The bottom-left corner includes another list of remaining herbicides which are not recommended. When user clicks on any of these herbicides, the ‘Why not recommended’ information becomes available.

Weed Control Advisor offers to print the user input as well as program output. The printable items are:  Weeds present in the rice field, growing conditions, herbicide use history and recommended herbicides. The recommended herbicides option include the effectiveness, warnings, application information, working mechanism and application rate for each recommended herbicide. The user may choose all or some of the printable items to print and/or preview the printout before printing.

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