The Purpose of Agrimod:
Agrimod serves as a central knowledge hub for information on agricultural modelling activities worldwide. This knowledge hub is the first of its kind, designed specifically to facilitate access to resources and information relevant to agricultural modelling. Agrimod will provide a lasting repository of details about models, data and case study applications - so please provide details about your research!
The vision is to unite the existing agricultural modelling community by providing a platform whereby models can be showcased, their applications discussed and new collaborations built, streamlining the process by which new modelling activities are developed.
Agrimod is intended to be a user–friendly information portal to people in other areas of research or new to agricultural modelling, looking to develop skills and acquire first-hand knowledge on agricultural modelling issues and applications.
The rationale for Agrimod:
There is a growing need, particularly in developing countries, to address national capabilities for researching agriculture and food security. The additional pressures on agriculture come from many sources including climate change, growing populations, changing diets and behaviours and the need for sustainability.
Agricultural research to address these issues includes the use of mathematical models and computer simulations to better understand how a particular agro-ecological systems and the people living within them may respond to any given environmental, management, economic or policy change.
Agrimod aims to provide a facility that enables users to access the information, knowledge and data they need in order to more successfully develop and employ agricultural modelling to address key research issues.
The scope for Agrimod:
Modelling based research within Agrimod covers spatial scales from cells to globe, temporal scales from minutes to decades. There is a limitless coverage of research issues, bounded only by their relevance to agriculture, as the platform is open-ended: details about models, data or case studies can be up-dated; issues or concepts can be raised and discussed. The scope is limited only by the willingness of users to participate.
How Agrimod works:
You can search for information about models, data and case studies using a range of filters. You can also refer to articles about issues within a diverse range of modelling subjects.
You can register to become a content creator and editor (after approval). This will allow you to upload your own information about models, case studies and data.
Registered users can post comments about content - the aim being to stimulate debate about things like best practices, model improvement and increasing the benefit of outcomes of model use.
Rules: This an open source knowledge hub, with the user community adding and editing content, hence it is the collective responsibility of the community to ensure that the content is appropriate.
- Please respect the views and contributions of others in the Agrimod community.
- Do not delete or change other people's contributions (unless it is clearly inappropriate). If there is something that you disagree with then please write an appropriate comment in the sections provided. Using this open approach we hope to achieve learning and provision of good information by building consensus through open debate.
- The user community will also be responsible for monitoring the content. If you see inappropriate content then please either use the editing facilities to remove it, or notify the administrators
How to use Agrimod:
If you wish to add content or post comments, you will need to register. Use the Account option at the top of the page.
Complete the registration details and save them. The site Administrator will then validate your details and approve you as a registered user.
On approval you will automatically be sent an email, after which you may log in to the site.
You can then add content, either by:
- From your account details page, use the Add Content options.
- From the Content menu at the top of the page: select Content / Add content and then choose the content type you want to add.
(See the section below “Content Types” for a description of the broad categories of content used).
Follow the instructions for each section and complete as much detail as possible.
A red * indicates a required field.
REMEMBER TO SAVE THE CONTENT BEFORE MOVING TO ANOTHER PAGE!
The Frequently Asked Questions page also provides useful information to help add content.
Content Types:
There are groups of content types detailed below, each one existing within the main Models, Data and Case Study categories. These are designed to be broad groups so as to capture a wide range of content.
CROPS: The content type CROP consists of any information about models, case studies or data relevant to primary production and its role within agriculture. CROPS is a generic term for any cultivated or wild species of plant, fungi, algae or other primary production organisms, that are of agricultural or ecological function and human utility (food, fibre, biofuels, medicine etc.). You can add CROP content that covers models, case studies and data;
- At any range of spatial scales from molecular through to global.
- Any individual primary production processes and genetics, individual organism, whole crop etc.
- Describes CROP biology, ecology and interactions with soil, atmosphere and other organisms, including water, nutrients and greenhouse gases etc.
- Any scientific or technical issues relevant to the modelling of CROPS.
The plant based CROP type is categorised according to the FAO Indicative Crop Classification.
ECONOMIC & TRADE: This content type covers all aspects of ECONOMIC & TRADE modelling, case studies and data relevant to agriculture. It includes any subject and issues related to ECONOMIC & TRADE modelling, agricultural product type or policy, across any form of political economy. The content can represent any spatial or temporal scales, single or multiple issues and sectors.
FARM & AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS: This content type covers any type of farm or agricultural system model, case study and data. It aims to capture the integration of primary (CROP) and secondary (LIVESTOCK) production and the range of different forms of land-use. The range of intensity can, for example, vary between nomadic pastoralism, shifting / slash and burn systems through arable to intensive horticulture or livestock systems. The emphasis is on the overall system, which may be made up of single or mixed CROP and LIVESTOCK types, and serves as a link to the ECONOMIC & TRADE and SOILS content types.
LIVESTOCK: The content term LIVESTOCK covers any fauna organism that has relevance to agricultural or ecological function and human utility. LIVESTOCK models, case studies and data describe the role of fauna within the agricultural and food systems, covering either managed or wild species. LIVESTOCK content can describes fauna biology, ecology and interactions with soil, atmosphere and other organisms, including water, nutrients and greenhouse gases etc. The spatial scale can range between molecular, single-cell to whole organisms through to assemblages and populations.
SOFTWARE & MODELLING PLATFORMS: This content type deals with the practical aspects of modelling: the model development rationale; software packages and programs; modelling platforms; computing approaches; data acquisition, handling, storage and visualisation etc. It covers the type of modelling approach (i.e. empirical, mechanistic, process-based, Integrated Assessment etc.) and software and platform issues. The SOFTWARE & MODELLING case studies content provides an opportunity to show examples across the range of agricultural modelling activities for different purposes (i.e. policy analysis, crop growth, climate change etc.) and methods, ranging from simple spreadsheet models to complex multi-model Integrated Assessments.
SOILS: Soil is the fundamental foundation of agriculture, so the SOILS content type covers any aspect of soil models, case studies and data. The coverage includes soil biology, chemistry / nutrients, physics / erosion, carbon, water, tillage etc. and the role of soils across any issue with agricultural and ecological functions and human utility (food security, climate change, ecosystem services etc.). Soils are classified using the FAO World Reference Base.
SUPPORTING MODELS: This content type refers to the range of tools and information that supports agricultural modelling activities. The range of tool types include: data recording systems; model evaluation tools; remote sensing; GIS; weather generators etc. SUPPORTING INFORMATION is the content type that may not have a clear home in one of the above types, and may be relevant across multiple content types, but has an important role in support modelling capacity.
For the community and by the community:
Agrimod is a service for the modelling community, and is populated with information by individuals within the community. Registered users can contribute material about models, case studies, data and edit text, write comments etc.
However, it is important that the site is used appropriately and responsibly.
Funding for Agrimod:
Agrimod is funded by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Challenge Programme (CCAFS).
CCAFS brings together the world's best researchers in agricultural science, climate science, environmental and social sciences to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and trade-offs between climate change and agriculture.
The program is carried out with funding support from governments and aid agencies, both through the CGIAR Fund and bilaterally.
Led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), CCAFS is a collaboration among all 15 CGIAR research centers and coordinates with the other CGIAR research programs.
