Web-based expert system for identification and management of plant nutrient disorders in flue-Cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

Tobacco is one of the most economically significant agricultural crops occupying a unique position in Indian agricultural scenario with an area of 0.42 million hectares contributing to an annual production of 750 million kg of cured leaf, of which flue-cured tobacco is about 240 million kg from 0.15 million ha. The physical and chemical quality parameters of the leafplaying a vital role in fixing the market price for tobacco which in turn, mainly depend on the availability of inorganic nutrients in the rhizosphere and their uptake. As the tobacco, plant responds well to different nutrients, their limited availability in the soil results in visual deficiency symptoms, which are specific to each nutrient. Visual diagnosis of mineral nutrient deficiency is a common technique used to identify and diagnose the plant nutrient disorders in flue-cured tobacco. The primary step in developing an efficient nutrient management system is identification of the nutrient disorders, which requires practical expertise. An expert is not always accessible for identification of nutrient disorders in a plant. To overcome this, a web-based expert system for identification and management of plant nutrient disorders in flue-cured tobacco was developed based on data available on various parameters of nutrient management symptoms using personnel home page (PHP) and HTML languages. This software provides easy search facility for the user through deficiency symptoms, which are embedded as images and retrieve the information on predisposing factors, corrective measures and its functions in a single go from any location.