Design and development of data mart for animal resources

Planners, researchers, development agencies and farmers require information on animal resources for further studies and evolving realistic strategies for improvement and rearing of livestock and poultry. Data is also required for keeping watch on prices and movement of animal products, animal feed and establishment of services such as veterinary hospitals, artificial insemination (AI) centers, meat and dairy industries, etc. Further, there is a need to study animal resources in relation to other aspects of agriculture, such as soils, vegetation, agro-meteorology, socio-economic, land use, water resources for overall development of agricultural production system. Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI), New Delhi has designed and implemented a Central Data Warehouse (CDW) under a National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) Mission Mode sub-project entitled “Integrated National Agricultural Resources Information System (INARIS)”. In this CDW, 13 different data marts related to various subjects in agriculture were designed, implemented and integrated. In this article, attempt was made to discuss concepts and problems of dimensional modeling of the animal data mart in relation to available source data on livestock resources in the country. Alternative solutions to specific problems were also discussed along with the solution implemented for modeling of this data mart. The complete process of building On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) system for research managers including inbuilt technique of data quality and consistency checks to be implemented is being described with special reference to animal resource management. This article will provide guidelines for design and development of similar complex data marts in agricultural sector, particularly in the field of livestock management.