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Collate Data
Completion requirements
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Biological Data
This normally includes collation of:
- Water quality
- Environmental impacts
- Occurrences of natural fauna and flora and
- A count of invasive species, pests and diseased plants in the crop.
This type of report is important in terms of ensuring that Ecological Environments are not damaged and that the land, water and natural resources remain in the optimum state for sustainable agricultural usage.
Physical And Economical Data
Click here to download a handout that explains the different types of physical and economic data.
Identify The Relevant Data
It is important that the learner should be able to identify the data relevant to satisfy his/her objective.
The data collected should be collated – grouped and interpreted and the relevant numbers should be considered to satisfy the objective.
Example: For the control of aphids on cotton, aphids are counted on 3 leaves per plant (bottom, middle and in the upper plant parts) and on 24 plants per field. Aphids in excess of 30 aphids per leaf are considered as highly relevant and as a high infestation. Aphids are therefore not counted as individuals but when more than 30 occurs per leaf surface counted, the plant is considered as being infested. When, however, a small number of aphids are present, that is less than 30 in total on three leaves counted, they are considered as having little effect on the plant. When more than 12 plants out of the 24 plants scouted have more than 30 aphids (as a total of 3 leaves) this data is relevant for indicating a possible decision that should be taken to spray for aphids. When fewer than 12 plants with more than 30 aphids are recorded, this data is irrelevant, and one should rely on the natural enemies of aphids to suppress these numbers.
Consider the following points to make sure you understand:
|
Issue |
Explanation |
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How do I decide when data is rendered relevant? |
It depends on my objective, for what I would like to use the data |
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What do you do with data not required but recorded? |
Do not discard; since recorded data can many times explain an occurrence, such as variation in temperatures over time, although, you might require just averages of temperatures. Do not mention the irrelative data in your report but keep on record on a data sheet. |
You need to count and add data correctly in order to collate data. The way in which you handle data will often determine if it is relevant or not. Should averages of data e.g. rainfall is required, it is important to calculate the total correctly divided by the number of days, or months.
For pest data gathered on a specific crop during scouting, it is important to keep track of the number of plants scouted, when determining the threshold for the specific crop. The number of pests observed or recordings of a particular pest made is also important.
Record Collated Data And Create A Report
There are various basic tools and pieces of equipment that will assist the person who is completing data collection tasks. Let’s look at some examples of these recording tools and what they are specifically used for.
Click here to download a handout that explains the different data reporting equipment.