Demystification of GIS applications have been taken up by the project. The aim is to customize GIS applications for use by rural communities. The focus is on the design and implementation of a farmer friendly GIS for accessing information about individual and shared resources without external facilitators. With new insight on their resources both in space and time it is expected that tough decision making with regard to natural resources and particularly in crop planning matching the water resource availability becomes possible. It is likely that communities may avoid resource-related conflicts as they build consensus on their availability. GIS is directly made available to the farmers through “Information Kiosk". The kiosk integrates GIS technology with Remote Sensing, Internet and basic computations (modelling). The Kiosk shall enable novice beginners to use GIS and other applications. The Kiosk GIS shall have maps which are easier to navigate and will have GIS functionality, limited to the essentials. The project has created GIS datasets for the entire project area. The different thematic layers created includes, Hydrological Unit (HU Boundary), Tanks, Rivers, Drainage network, Road network, Canals, Settlements and Spot heights.

DATA BASE (HRIS)
Habitation Resource Information System (HRIS) is a storehouse of information of all data generated in the project both at the habitation level and consolidated at the hydrological unit level. The data is organised at individual farmer level.

HRIS can capture all varieties of data including static information pertaining to habitation, land use, soil, geology as well as dynamic information related to meteorology, hydrology, agriculture, and cropping in an organized and efficient manner. To provide maximum value to the user, the software is GIS enabled; however, it can work without maps also in case they are not available. HRIS+ software has been successfully implemented in all the 9 field offices of the PNGOs, TST and Nodal office. The data entry is in different stages of completion. With the completion of the data entry (updated upto Dec 2005) the initial task envisaged under HRIS+ shall be completed. All the data stored in the data base will be bench mark data against which all future changes can be compared and evaluated.

INFORMATION KIOSK
The Information Kiosk is a user friendly interface with a complicated set of data that will be translated to the farmer in a way he understands and accepts. The Information Kiosk shall make the data base come up with set of queries that is of concern to the farmer. The answer to the queries shall be built using analytical /graphical tools, GIS multi-thematic overlays, report etc. Issues of concern related to water use and its efficiency, cropping plan matching the resource potential, crop production, pumping efficiency, yields, markets, prices etc shall be computed and presented in a friendly graphical fashion. The user will be provided an opportunity to forecast the water use, crop production, and saving for various hypothetical situations. The answers to various queries can be presented temporarily for comparison with real life situations.

APFAMGS Website
APFAMGS project web site www.apfamgs.org is an internal communication medium while disseminating the project learning's. The Web site enables access and sharing of information between project partners thus reducing huge paper work as well reducing communication time. Web site with a dedicated internal communication module has reduced considerably need for periodical meetings as well enabled complete transparency in information exchange.

The website is a library of information on the APFAMGS project. All the important activities are recorded and the related documents, presentations, media information, events, current news, photo gallery, exposure visits, technical papers, publication, GMC, HRIS, details of project partners, training materials etc. which is updated in regular intervals to keep one and all in tune with the project activities. APFAMGS has this placed all its publication in the public domain and accepts feed backs