Dr Roland Bourdeix (CIRAD) was invited by the Department of Perennial Crop from the Research Institute for Oil and Oil Plants (IOOP) to organize a training on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) applied to coconut research and development.
Fourteen IOOP researchers and technical staff participated the training. The programme was intended to provide a global overview of the use of GIS in coconut research, and more specifically on the following points: 1) Multi functional landscape management and new trends in coconut conservation and breeding 2) collecting germplasm and integrate geographical and other data using the CGRD (Coconut Genetic Resources Database) and Kobotool box which allows to collect data from cell phones; 3) Managing ex situ genebank accessions and field’s experiment using CDM (coconut data management) and Microsoft Foxpro; 4) the Qgis and Diva-GIS software for managing geographical information. 5) Maxent to predict favorable cultivation zones and 6) Google Earth and other online tools for making interactive geographical representations. All the cited software except Bandicam and Foxpro are free or kindly provided by CIRAD; most of them are open source. Researchers were also trained to video making using Bandicam and Microsoft Movie Maker. Field visits were conducted in research centres and farmer's fields to test the gathering of data with android cell phones, and to prepare a project on assessing a traditional technique from Mekong farmers for reducing the vertical growth of coconut palms. About 10 GB of HD video shootings has been taken and a copy was let to IOOP. A short movie was co-produced during the training. Most of collected information was released online at the URL: http://coconutvietnam.blogspot.fr. Many of the new concept and ideas presented during this training comes from a recent book chapter (1) of an Indian CPCRI book and from the compilation of the Global Strategy for Conservation and Use of Coconut Genetic Resources, all in press. The training was prepared with the help of Dr Geo Coppens and Gaëlle Viennois, CIRAD researchers, and following a dedicated training provided by the CMAEE Join Research Unit in Montpellier, France.
Fourteen IOOP researchers and technical staff participated the training. The programme was intended to provide a global overview of the use of GIS in coconut research, and more specifically on the following points: 1) Multi functional landscape management and new trends in coconut conservation and breeding 2) collecting germplasm and integrate geographical and other data using the CGRD (Coconut Genetic Resources Database) and Kobotool box which allows to collect data from cell phones; 3) Managing ex situ genebank accessions and field’s experiment using CDM (coconut data management) and Microsoft Foxpro; 4) the Qgis and Diva-GIS software for managing geographical information. 5) Maxent to predict favorable cultivation zones and 6) Google Earth and other online tools for making interactive geographical representations. All the cited software except Bandicam and Foxpro are free or kindly provided by CIRAD; most of them are open source. Researchers were also trained to video making using Bandicam and Microsoft Movie Maker. Field visits were conducted in research centres and farmer's fields to test the gathering of data with android cell phones, and to prepare a project on assessing a traditional technique from Mekong farmers for reducing the vertical growth of coconut palms. About 10 GB of HD video shootings has been taken and a copy was let to IOOP. A short movie was co-produced during the training. Most of collected information was released online at the URL: http://coconutvietnam.blogspot.fr. Many of the new concept and ideas presented during this training comes from a recent book chapter (1) of an Indian CPCRI book and from the compilation of the Global Strategy for Conservation and Use of Coconut Genetic Resources, all in press. The training was prepared with the help of Dr Geo Coppens and Gaëlle Viennois, CIRAD researchers, and following a dedicated training provided by the CMAEE Join Research Unit in Montpellier, France.
Day 1 - 18/01/2016
9-11h30
- Presentation of CIRAD and its Joint Research Unit AGAP
- Presentation of the provisional planning of the training
- Generalities on coconut research in link with GIS; collecting germplasm; management of field data in ex situ gene banks; in situ conservation and multi functional landscape management; production of seed nut by farmers.
- Here is the link to the videos made for and during the training
- Downloading all the software to be used during the training:
- CGRD - Coconut Genetic Resources Database
- CDM – Coconut Data Management
- Kobotool box
- Maxent
- Diva-GIS
- Free Spatial data
- Free climate data
- Qgis (please download version 2.8, 32 or 64 bits according to your computers)
- Google Earth pro
- Foxpro should be found locally (old Microsoft database software)
- Other optional software
- Bandicam for recording all in the screen
- Microsoft Movie Maker for making videos
- Google Drive for storage of documents online - use the Google account roland2016gis@gmail.com with password C2016.
- The CGRD (coconut genetic resources database) - how to extract latitude and longitude data
- The use of CDM (Coconut Data Management by CIRAD)
- The use of Maxent for predicting coconut cultivation zones
9-11h30
- Use of Kobotool box software to collect data on Cell phones
- Continuation on Kobotool box
- Continuation on CDM
- Use of Google Earth Pro
Day 3 -20/01/2016
9-17
- Field visit of the Trang Bang Coconut Research Centre
- Field visit of coconut farms and test of the kobotool box kit
- Making geo-referenced videos and photos for transferring on line (Panoramio, Youtube, Google Earth)
9-11h30
14-17
- Continuation on Qgis and Diva-gis for managing GIS information. Using data from Vietnam researchers
- Overview of CIRAD work on remote sensing techniques for detecting coconut palms
9-17
- Fields visits to Dong Go Coconut Research Centre. Test of Kobotool Box software.
- Making geo-referenced videos and photos for transferring on line (Panoramio, Youtube, Google Earth)
Day 6 - 23/01/2016 (Saturday)
9-17
9-17
- Visit of special coconut cultivation methods using salt tolerant coconut varieties for development in shrimp breeding sites. Genetic experiment for varietal tolerance to salinity.
- Video shooting
9-17
- Visit of Kairong floating market and farmer’s fields.
- Back to Ben Tré.
- Visit of Hung Phong community producing high-value coconut products and survey of techniques for reducing the vertical growth of Tall-type coconut palms. Video shooting.
- Back to Ho Chi Minh
Day 8 - 25/01/2016
9-11h30
- Training of video making using Bandicam and Microsoft Movie Maker
- Cleaning of Video shootings
- Co-production of a short movie on a traditional technique for reducing the vertical growth of tall type coconut palms.
9-11h30
- Open discussion and end of the training
- Closing dinner with officials of IOOP and the Ministry of
A list of the Fourteen IOOP researchers and technical staff who participated the training is available here.
Reference
(1) Bourdeix R., Perera L., Rivera R.L., Saena-Tuia V and Masumbuko L. 2016. Global coconut communities - status and strategies in in situ diversity management and utilization. In: Coconut: Global status and perspectives. Central Plantation Crop Research Institute, Kasaragod, India. Submitted.