Abstract
We developed a tool for predicting the possibility of rice cultivation by using the rice-growth simulation model known as the Simulation Model for Rice-Weather Relations (SIMRIW). This is a Web application that can be applied globally to display on a map the potential for cultivation in an area, the optimum transplanting date, and the maximum yield. This application was developed as a decision-support system 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 an agricultural model development framework. We improved the model's engine to enable the model to be executed with a large number of repetitions in order to simulate the entire Earth by using a large parameter set. Moreover, we added a new data source to MetBroker, which is a supplier of meteorological data, to enable the handling of 1°-grid meteorological data. The model was executed 365 times while the transplanting date was moved by 1 day each time, and the cultivation possibility was determined by whether or not the yield was zero. This execution involved eight cultivars (five japonica and three indica), three air-temperature addition values, and two CO2 concentrations. The results are stored in XML format, and users can view them by using the Flash version or Google Earth version of the data viewer application.
