For the majority, papaya, melon, cabbage, and raisins are foods to be eaten. But for those in scientific study, they are milestones in the world of rich research data that bear the stamp of Kerala Agricultural University’s College of Agriculture, Vellayani, in Thiruvananthapuram.
PAPAYA, MeLON, CABBAGE, and RAISINS (R and AI Solutions for Inferential Statistics) form the main components of STATOBERRY LLP, a research data compiler that was developed by postgraduate and research students — Arshida A K, Jithin Chandran, Adarsh V S, Hisham M, Parthan RK, Sidharth S and Sreethu P T — at the Vellayani College, under the guidance of Dr. Pratheesh P Gopinath, head of the department of agri statistics.
Compiled in 2024 to reduce time required for data analysis and interpretation, the STATOBERRY's RAISINS has now grown to be the choicest platform for researchers in Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions and even the agri-based institutions in Nepal.
“The institutions in India, like ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research and the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Haryana, as well as 62 institutions that come under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), have adopted our product. State agricultural universities are already on board with us,” says Pratheesh.
It has users from institutions like the US Department of Agriculture and has received expressions of interest from the University of Idaho.
The technology, which is making ripples worldwide, for reducing the time of research data analysis from months to just seconds, is a hybrid with AI integrated into core data analytics.
“Analytics happen on the R (a programming language), and user assistance is AI-based,” Pratheesh informs.
The idea arose from the observation that for data study, researchers had to know coding based on R and Python. Their training alone took months, and the ordeal did not end there. The analysis would take another four to five days, because the data also had to be coded and customised for interpretation.
It was then that the STATOBERRY’s predecessor, GRAPES (General R-based Analysis Platform Empowered by Statistics), was developed as an online analysis platform.
“That fetched about two lakh subscriptions from across the world. In most of the plant breeding experiments done by scientists with no statistical background, data analysis was a titanic issue. A support system like this was eagerly awaited in the research sector,” says Pratheesh.
“From there, we improvised further to what is now the STATOBERRY,” he adds.
In the new system, there is no need to learn coding. “The software RAISINS, which is the core of the project, helps you to enter the data in less than four seconds. This is a huge leap when it comes to agri-research, which requires compilation of massive amounts of information for plant development and the generation of new plant varieties,” says Pratheesh.
The fast research output has increased the acceptance of the project to such an extent that it is being termed as a ‘boon’.
“It was started on a small scale, and now, it is getting global attention. Central bodies like NABARD have come forward to help us with a grant of `5 lakh as part of their K-AgTECH launch pad initiative (an incubtaor supported by NABARD and Western Sydney University),” says Pratheesh.
The platform also has its publication wing, termed ‘PAPAYA’ (Professional Assistance for Publishing Academics and Your Aspirations), which hosts the Journal of Sustainable Technology in Agriculture (JOSTA), where researchers can publish their study free of cost. “The JOSTA is supported by RAISINS software, which is cloud-based. Companies don’t require any specifications for installation.”
The CABBAGE (Citation and Bibliography Builder for Academic General Editing) is also powered by RAISINS.
It is an automatic interpreter or a referencing forum, while MeLON (Module for e-Learning and Online Notes) is an educational platform.
“But it is JOSTA that is our give-back to the scientific community, which has relentlessly battled with arduous data collection and analysis, till now. The subscription revenue we get from RAISINS is thus employed in JOSTA, which rewards scientists with free publication and global access to their work,” says Pratheesh.
STATOBEERY is still in its early stages of growth, and more advancements will be added on as research grows to demand advancements.
“All our products will bear the names of fruits, to imply that the result of hard work bears the sweetness of fruits,” he adds.