Bigdata for Big Agriculture - Insights for Green revolution

"Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. The economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth. Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India." - From Wikipedia

So I am going to highlight that how Bigdata and its allied analytics will help in agricultural growth for these type of countries

Why this motivation?

     I am seeing huge potential for farmers to dictate the sale of their data to large agricultural companies (for statement and research purpose). But our technological goal is to get the revenue stream back to the growers. Because I know what their potential are.

     While surfing on the internet I came to know that some companies provides farmers with a device that can be plugged into a tractor to gather data on land and machinery which collects the data in a structured and in unstructured manner including fuel economy, speed, direction and products being applied. These static, sensor based unstructured information is then directed to an electronic file were accessed and quanitified using Bigdata tools and can be analyzed using data science strategies.

     Once these kind of data are gathered, using supply chain management strategies (as I mentioned on my earlier post Bigdata Analytics in Supply Chain Management) that facilitates opportunities and turns between farmers and individual stake-holders or agricultural companies.

What will be benefit for farmers?

     Agricultural companies can make offers to purchase the farmer's data (structured / unstructured, it doesn't matter) because these are going to be processed under Bigdata tools and insights are to be gathered from quantified sources by means of effective data science techniques. There is a chance that farmers can make profit on their agricultural data.

     Agriculture technology experts are addressing how farmers can decide and icrease their revenue from their farm's data.

What I am trying to say here?

     We are trying to mix and match technology both old and new to boost agricultural production sustainably in the years ahead.

     When seeing some citations as like below from external sources from the internet, the confidence of using Big data and data driven analytics in agriculture is increasing.

       "In precision agriculture, control centers collect and process data in real time to help farmers make the best decisions with regard to planting, fertilizing and harvesting crops. Sensors placed throughout the fields are used to measure temperature and humidity of the soil and surrounding air. In addition, pictures of fields are taken using satellite imagery and robotic drones"  - From Internet

     “A farmer could take a picture of a crop with his phone and upload it to a database where an expert could assess the maturity of the crop based on its coloring and other properties. People could provide their own reading on temperature and humidity and be a substitute for sensor data if none is available,” - From Internet     

     So, by reviewing the past data on agriculture and farming activities in developing countries, assesses and provides the necessities and requirements required at various levels to benefit from Big Data.

 
      Efficient analysis reveals some insights on pattern of Big Data and its effective use in key development areas. These insights can be used to discuss the outcomes over developing countries and facilitates to learn from the utilization of Big Data in big corporations as well as in other green-activities in industrialized countries.

      The agricultural research community not only needs to build its own Bigdata and data management infrastructures, but also to seek effective analytical techniques to extract information from the large volume of agricultural unstructured data.

     So, current technology is capable and provides lots of tools and facilities for computational and analytical solutions for the integrity check and their analysis of large, uncommon unstructured datasets on the Big-Data scale.

What will be result?

"Future begins here"

Now I am writing Bigdata and datascience articles on what to do, on upcoming days I am going to highlight the tools and analytical techniques for capturing and analyzing volumes of data with examples on respective domains.

By,

VINU KIRAN .S

Image courtesy: images.google.com

Read more at (http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/bigdata-for-big-agriculture-insights-for-green-revolution)

Bigdata Analytics and Supply chain management

I am a newbie to Bigdata and would like to highlight some significant advantages if incorporated in a company's supply-chain management strategies, expecting the reader's views and suggestions.
  
   Because, in recent past I have developed a online supply-chain management systems in which sellers and customers are matched using an algorithm. It acted as a decision support system and I needed to dig deeper on the available data to get more insights over the data pattern (even for evaluating its correctness).
   
  We know that data is generated throughout the supply chain – So, for sure the manufacturers of consumer goods or services analyze key performance indicators to ensure the resources are delivering at its capacity. So, there is a need for efficient data storage/management and information retrieval techniques.
    
 Current technology can track and capture data effectively and efficiently, even in vast quantities. Meaning that it can then be used to plan collectively to provide precise forecasting that ensures informed decisions can be made quickly. This type of analysis uses variety of data in huge quantities than ever before.

For example, a company can use big data to analyze petabytes of data on demand and supply, sales, identifying business insights etc.,

While thinking of SCM, Big data analytics can also be applied even on:
     Planning:Analysis can be done to predict market trends, demand & supply patterns over a period of time.
   
  Modelling and Designing :A web-based automated procurement system with a procurement model using efficient matching algorithms, searching, negotiation and evaluation may improve supplier selection, price negotiation and supplier evaluation and the approach for supplier selection/evaluation.
  
   Implementation: Volume of data can be used to ensure the correctness and effectiveness of supply-chain management by analyzing time to time. Key Performance Metrics can also be evaluated by looking for data patterns. These revolutionary analytics results in a predictable decision support systems.
   
  Because inaccurate forecasting may result in loss. If we make too much, we're wasting cash and losing profit. If we make too little, we're missing revenue. If you make it at the wrong time, we're probably getting hit by all three. It depends on the supply-chain factors. By implementing fluid demand and supply plans that are updated in real-time, based on true demand signals, material/resource availability and capacity, your revenue and profit potential is maximized.

     Industries get a huge benefit from analytics-driven insight that enable them to more intelligently track and manage. In recent trends, using automated data collection software to feed information into its big data analytics program, many merchandise retailer has dramatically boosted profits and more proactively met consumer demands.

     Since huge companies and industries are mainly focusing on big data analytics to improve their supply chain, primarily targeting to supply-chain management systems, since it is now better able to predict customer buying habits and track the effectiveness of special sales offers, last but not least "the demand".

- VINU KIRAN .S
Reference (http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/bigdata-analytics-and-supply-chain-management)

Top 10 smart money-saving tips

Start, or boost, your emergency savings account.

The biggest barrier to saving is not being in the habit of saving. The best way to get in the habit is to pay yourself first by directly depositing money from your paycheck into a dedicated savings account. This can be done concurrently with your goals of paying down debt or saving for retirement. You won't miss what you don't see, and putting your savings on autopilot is a great way to reinforce your money saving habit when unplanned expenses inevitably come along. Tip 2Get a high-yield savings account. Once you've started to save, you'll need a place to put that money. There are three requirements in determining where to put your rainy-day fund: It must be liquid (meaning you can get to the money whenever you need it), it must be free of investment risk and you must earn a return that preserves your buying power against the erosive effect of inflation. An FDIC-insured, high-yield savings account meets all three of these requirements. Tip 3Find a free checking account. Having the wrong checking account can take hundreds of hard-earned dollars out of your pocket every year. The average interest-bearing checking account charges a monthly service fee of $12.55 and requires a balance of more than $3,300 at a near zero rate of interest to avoid fees. Instead, look for one of the many accounts that charge no monthly service or per-transaction fees, and don't require a minimum balance. These free checking accounts have long been the hallmark of smaller community banks, credit unions and online banks. Track your monthly spending. People hate to use the "B" word -- budgeting. Call it what you want, but you do need to get a handle on your spending. Doing so does two things: It helps you determine where you can cut back and helps maximize your money-saving efforts. Begin by tracking your spending for two months. Then use that information to build a realistic monthly spending plan. Finally, track all of your monthly expenses. At month's end, tally your spending against the plan and see where you did well and where you didn't. Pay down high interest credit cards. For many households, the best return on your money is to pay down credit card debt. Whether carrying balances at 12 percent or 22 percent, credit card debt is typically the costliest debt households have. Plowing excess cash into repayment of credit card debt is a double-digit, risk-free return because it reduces the outstanding balance and the resulting interest charges. This is a sound move now as credit card rates will only move higher over the next two years. Tip 6Begin or increase contributions to a workplace retirement program. While many employers have scaled back or suspended their matching contributions to workplace retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, this is not an excuse to suspend your own. Even if your employer is contributing at a reduced rate, it still represents free money. If they're not, the burden is on your shoulders. Contributions not only reduce your taxable income now, but your investment goes to work immediately and grows without the headwind of taxes. The regular contributions made with each paycheck represent the best example of dollar-cost averaging, buying fewer shares when values are high but more shares when prices fall. Another avenue is a Roth 401(k), in which your contributions are made with after-tax dollars but withdrawals in retirement will not be taxed, allowing you to keep your entire nest egg. Tip 7Make an IRA contribution. If you or your spouse has earned income, you are eligible to contribute to an individual retirement account. Those under age 50 can contribute a maximum of $5,000 and those 50 and older can contribute up to $6,000. You can open an IRA with a bank, credit union, brokerage firm or mutual fund, and invest the contributions as you choose. With an IRA, you can choose investments that aren't available in your workplace retirement plan, such as commodities, individual stocks or certificates of deposit, giving you access to investment options that result in a more diversified portfolio. A traditional IRA offers tax-deferred growth, while a Roth IRA offers tax free growth of retirement savings. Convert traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The new year brings an attractive new opportunity. While the income limits restricting contributions to a Roth IRA remain, the income limit restricting eligibility to convert a traditional to a Roth IRA disappears. This means anyone wanting to convert some or all of their traditional IRA into a Roth can do so, regardless of income. It also means doing it in 2010 is especially appealing because the resulting taxes can be spread over 2011 and 2012. Even though the income limit on Roth contributions remains, you can contribute to a traditional IRA then immediately convert that traditional to a Roth IRA. This is a roundabout way of financing a Roth IRA, even if your income is too high to do so in a direct way. As for the tax bill that results when converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, it is vitally important to pay the taxes out of other assets, not your retirement assets. Save that money for your retirement.

 Tip 9Refinance into a fixed-rate mortgage. Interest rates are at record lows, and eventually they will move higher, much higher. When that happens, the home financing place not to be is in an adjustable-rate mortgage that is subject to a rate reset. Fortunately, this is entirely avoidable. Refinance out of an adjustable-rate mortgage and lock in a fixed rate while they are near record lows. Do this even if your adjustable rate mortgage won't reset for another year. Yes, you may trade away another year at 3.5 percent to 4 percent, but you permanently insulate yourself from the inevitable scenario of higher interest rates. Homeowners who are upside down and can refinance through the Home Affordable Refinancing Program, or HARP, should move quickly to refinance as that program is scheduled to expire in June 2010.

 Tip 10 Rebalance your investments. Many investments have rebounded from their depths in March 2009, with the stock market up by more than 60 percent. Commodities, too, particularly gold and energy, have turned in strong performances. In other words, your portfolio may look much different than it did during the March lows. Such outsized performance by some asset classes can distort your asset allocation widely from its intended target. So rebalancing your investments back in line with your goals and risk tolerance is prudent. This also helps reduce the susceptibility of your portfolio to sharp market corrections. Rebalancing is a good habit to undertake, but it is particularly important following a year of huge swings as we've seen in 2009.