Tool for Predicting the Possibility of Rice Cultivation using SIMRIW

Abstract

tool for predicting the possibility of rice cultivation using the rice growth simulation model known as the Simulation Model for Rice-Weather Relations (SIMRIW) has been developed. This is a Web application that can display the potential for cultivation, the optimal transplanting date, and the maximum yield on a map by executing SIMRIW throughout the world. This application was developed as a decision support system (DSS) tool for policy decision makers and farmers rather than researchers, although the original SIMRIW model was developed for researchers. SIMRIW had already been implemented as a Web application by using the crop model development framework. The model execution engine was improved to allow a large amount of repetitive model execution in order to simulate the entire earth with a large parameter set. Moreover, MetBroker, which is a supplier of meteorological data, was improved to allow handling the one degree grid meteorological data. The model was executed 365 times while the transplanting date was moved by one day each time, and the cultivation possibility was determined by whether or not the yield is zero. At the same time, it was executed for eight cultivars (five Japonica and three Indica), three air temperature addition values, and two CO2 concentrations. The results of the model are stored in an XML format, and a user can see them using the Flash version or Google Earth version of the data viewer application.