INTERACTIVE KNOWLEDGE LEARNING BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR SMALLHOLDERS

Abstract

Enhancement of farming management relies heavily on enhancing farmer knowledge. In the past, both the direct learning approach and the personnel extension system for improving fertilization practices of smallholders has proven insufficiently effective. Therefore, this article proposes an interactive knowledge learning approach using artificial intelligence as a promising alternative. The system consists of two parts. The first is a dialog interface that accepts information from farmers about their current farming practices. The second part is an intelligent decision system, which categorizes the information provided by farmers in two categories. The first consists of on-farm constraints, such as fertilizer resources, split application times and seasons. The second comprises knowledge-based practices by farmers, such as nutrient in- and output balance, ratios of different nutrients and the ratios of each split nutrient amount to the total nutrient input. The interactive knowledge learning approach aims to identify and rectify incorrect practices in the knowledge-based category while considering the farmer’s available finance, labor, and fertilizer resources. Investigations show that the interactive knowledge learning approach can make a strong contribution to prevention of the overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, and mitigating agricultural non-point source pollution.

Keywords

• artificial intelligence|extension system|non-point source pollution control|smallholders|fertilization