Pl@nteInfo: Interactive extension services

If a plant grower wants to cultivate his land in an environmentally friendly way, he needs lots of up-to-date information about such factors as the weather, pests, and pesticides. He needs to adapt this information to local conditions and utilise it to make the right decisions as to whether or when to spray, and the doses to apply.
With Internet access he can obtain help from the Pl@nteInfo system, which provides information and decision-making support to farmers and consultants. Pl@nteInfo collects, collates, and communicates up-to-date data on plant growing; it enables a farmer to download local climate data from the Danish Meteorological Institute and to use it along with information from his own fields to calculate the risk of attacks by a particular pest at any given time.
Pl@nteInfo processes raw data from various sources and presents the results in graphic form. Via a subscription system help can be tailored to the individual farmer, because the system knows where he lives, and it has details about his land. He can even add assessment by a local expert. The result of all this is that the farmer receives good, useful help so he can make the right decisions.
Pl@nteInfo was initiated in 1996 when the Internet and WorldWideWeb were still exotic phenomena for most people in agriculture. The visions for use of the Internet in agriculture that initiated Pl@nteInfo have now been realised. These visions were, however, so apparent in the first version of Pl@nteInfo that the agricultural advisory system immediately responded - and started to move towards the information society. It took a great effort to change structures and working methods in this large organisation, but the Danish advisory system is now at the leading edge of using the Internet in agricultural extension.
At present Pl@nteInfo has more or less incorporated all available knowledge on plant pest and disease forecasting; therefore new research is being initiated to improve decision support in the area. At the same time other suitable application areas for online advice are being examined.