Seminar on improving dispute resolution
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
A Lincoln University IT graduate has developed an app that is making life much easier for staff carrying out fieldwork.
Agriseeds science manager Colin Eady says Tao Zhou's creation, which helps with data capture during field trials, has proven invaluable.
"The modular system Tao developed simplifies data capture process, saves time and reduces errors," says Eady.
While working towards his graduate diploma of software and IT, Zhou took on an internship at a plant breeding and research company. He says he came up with the idea for the app after talking to Agriseeds staff and monitoring their workflow.
"Seed data from the field used to be collected using paper and pen and keyed into a spreadsheet back at the office. After having some discussions with staff, we thought we would make things easier by developing an app," he says.
"The system is based on Microsoft Excel and runs on a tablet. It works by collecting data via a friendly, front-end interface, then the data is automatically transferred to Excel in standard format with error checking and validation. This makes it handy for preventing mistakes."
Eady says the internship finished in November, but Zhou continued to work at Agriseeds for a further three months to help troubleshoot any problems with the app.
"During this time, he established efficient electronic capture and transfer of data between the Agriseeds Quality Assurance and Breeding team. He also helped improve a previous Lincoln University/Agriseeds collaboration concerning seed image analysis."
"I'd like to continue advancing my career as an engineer in the IT industry. The knowledge and techniques I've learned from the Lincoln course have given me a lot of ideas, as well as a new vision," says Zhou.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.