Birchip Cropping Group Virtual Agronomy

14 September 2004

The Birchip Cropping Group Virtual Agronomy system was officially launched at BCG's main field day on Monday 13th September 2004. The Virtual Agronomy is an application designed to increase the fluency of information delivery from BCG's research activities to its membership. Developed by CECC, the system allows the BCG to input the results of its cropping trials as observations are made throughout the trials lifetime. Photographs and other multimedia items allow members to get up-to-date information on trials being conducted in the current growing season. Interactive elements such as discussion threads allow members to discuss and make comments on the trial updates or other hot topics added into the system.

Historical trial results and research papers have been integrated into the same system allowing a farmer to compare current trial results against past trials. The whole system is entirely maintained by the BCG staff with a CD ROM based version to be produced at the end of each calendar year. The CD ROM will be assist members with very slow or no internet access to receive the same information as other members.

A preview of the system has been made available to the public on BCG's website. The preview features 1 trial from the 2004 growing season and is fully functional. Historical trials can also be searched from within this area. CECC is proud of its ongoing relationship with the Birchip Cropping Group and looks forward to more collaboration in the future.

BCG Website http://www.bcg.org.au