Application-oriented deep learning model for early warning of rice blast in Taiwan
Affiliation:
1. Department of Plant Pathology, National Chung Hsing University, 145 Xingda Rd., South Dist., Taichung City 40227, Taiwan;2. Department of Plant Medicine, National Chiayi University, 300 Syuefu Road, Chiayi City 60004, Taiwan;3. Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 70, Muchang Rd., Hsinhua District, Tainan 712009, Taiwan;4. Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 2-6, Dehe Rd., Pingtung County, 908126, Taiwan;5. Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 139, Sec. 2, Dongfu Rd., Xinwu District, Taoyuan City 327005, Taiwan;6. Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 261, Gongguan Township, Miaoli County, 363201, Taiwan;7. Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 150, Ji''an Rd., Hualien County, 973044, Taiwan;8. Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 675, Sec. 1, Chunghua Rd., Taidung City 950244, Taiwan;9. Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, No. 370, Song Hwai Rd., Changhua County, 515008, Taiwan;10. Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Plant Pathology, Taichung, Taiwan;11. Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, National Chung Hsing University, 145 Xingda Rd., South Dist., Taichung City 402, Taiwan
Abstract:
Rice blast is one of the most devastating diseases that threatens rice production in Taiwan. A rice blast forecasting model is required to guide the precise application of fungicide. Therefore, BlastGRU-TW model based on deep learning algorithms was developed in this study. The input data comprised approximately 1000 rice blast surveys, collected from 50 fields throughout Taiwan between 2014 and 2021, and the corresponding weather data retrieved from weather observation network in Taiwan. Common and easily accessible meteorological factors, i.e. temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind, were converted into 20 daily meteorological features which were coupled with different time intervals between 1 and 30 days before survey (DBS) to train the model. The results showed that seven meteorological features (daily maximum temperature, daily mean temperature, daily minimum temperature, daily mean humidity, daily mean WV and daily mean Wu) and the interval from −4 to −24 DBS were informative in disease prediction, thereby indicating that the proposed model could predict the risk of rice blast by using meteorological data 4–24 days before new disease symptoms appeared. The proposed BlastGRU-TW model achieved an accuracy of 87.3%. Furthermore, on adding the 3 day forecast weather data from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in the proposed model, the forecast extended to 7 days ahead of the appearance of new symptoms. Moreover, the BLASTAM model developed in Japan was implemented and validated in Taiwan to evaluate its applicability in different geographical areas. Finally, a rice blast early warning system (https://mycolab.pp.nchu.edu.tw/blast_forecast/index_en.php) equipped with an interactive web-based map is now available for real-time forecasting of the risk of rice blast in paddy field across Taiwan.
