computer science

International Crop Information System

International Crop Information System is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand International Crop Information System rather than just read about it. In short: The International Crop Information System (ICIS) was an open-source database system led by researchers from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that provided integrated management of global information on crop improvement and management both for individual crops and for farming systems. The project was motivated by ambiguous germplasm identification, difficulty in tracing pedigree information, and the l…

Key takeaways

International Crop Information System belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect International Crop Information System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of International Crop Information System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The International Crop Information System (ICIS) was an open-source database system led by researchers from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that provided integrated management of global information on crop improvement and management both for individual crops and for farming systems. The project was motivated by ambiguous germplasm identification, difficulty in tracing pedigree information, and the lack of integration between genetic resources, breeding, evaluation, utilization, and management data, all of which constrained the development of more knowledge-intensive crop research efforts. In conjunction with the IRRI, the ICIS was developed by agricultural scientists and information technicians in several centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), in Advanced Research Institutions (ARIs), and in National Agricultural Research Systems (NARSs) to address these constraints. The project was discontinued in 2011.

Implementations The rice implementation of the ICIS was referred to as the "International Rice Information System", or "IRIS". There were other implementations for other crops, including a wheat implementation known as "IWIS", one for lentils known as "ILIS", chickpeas "IChIS", faba bean "IFIS", and more.

References

ICIS-specific references Bruskiewich R, Cosico A, Eusebio W, Portugal A, Ramos LR, Reyes T, Sallan MAB, Ulat VJM, Wang X, McNally KL, Sackville Hamilton R and McLaren CG. "Linking Genotype To Phenotype: The International Rice Information System (IRIS)." 2003. Bioinformatics 19(Suppl.1):i63-i65 Fox, PN. and Skovmand, B. (1996). "The International Crop Information System (ICIS) - connects genebank to breeder to farmer’s field." Plant adaptation and crop improvement (eds. M. Cooper and G.L. Hammer), CAB International. pp 317–326. McLaren, CG; Bruskiewich, RM; Portugal, AM; Cosico, AB. 2005. "The International Rice Information System. a platform for meta-analysis of rice crop data." Plant Physio. 139 (2): 637-642 Portugal, Arllet; Balachandra, Ranjan; Metz, Thomas; Bruskiewich, Richard and McLaren, Graham; "International Crop Information System for Germplasm Data Management." 2007, Plant Bioinformatics: Methods and Protocols. Dave Edwards, Editor. Methods Mol Biol.406:459-72 Humana Press. Totowa, New Jersey, USA

Related project references Bruskiewich, Richard et al 2008 "The Generation Challenge Programme Platform: Semantic Standards and Workbench for Crop Science", International Journal of Plant Genomics, vol. 2008, Article ID 369601, 6 pages. doi:10.1155/2008/369601 Bruskiewich, Richard et al 2006. The Generation Challenge Programme (GCP)-Standards for Crop Data. OMICS 10(2):215-219 Bruskiewich R, Metz T and McLaren G. 2006. Bioinformatics and crop information systems in rice research. IRRN 31(1):5-12

External links International Crop Information System web site

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with International Crop Information System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what International Crop Information System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to International Crop Information System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about International Crop Information System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of International Crop Information System

In research: International Crop Information System appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses International Crop Information System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: International Crop Information System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural research, Database software stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for International Crop Information System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study International Crop Information System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what International Crop Information System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain International Crop Information System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is International Crop Information System in simple terms?

Why does International Crop Information System matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study International Crop Information System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on International Crop Information System.