Co-Designing Farming Systems and Decision Support Tools: A Generic Framework (2024)

Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2012

Agricultural Systems, 1992

Relational databases for the design and construction of maintainable decision support systems in agriculture. Author info | Abstract ...

Crop and Pasture Science, 2011

Designing or improving farming systems requires understanding their dynamics so as to predict their behaviour in response to management. Simulation tools can potentially support the process by which farmers and scientists might obtain such an encompassing understanding. The usability of these tools is, however, partially inhibited by the inherent complexity of the interactions at work in farm-scale models. Whereas such models are generally used in isolation, here we present an approach in which a field-scale diagnosis method complements a farm-scale simulation model. This diagnosis method lends itself easily to an intelligible presentation of field-specific knowledge that can be fed to the simulation tool for more encompassing considerations. Our approach is used to support the design of novel management strategies in grassland-based beef systems and proved to be effective when applied to two farms in the French Pyrenees. Thanks to the integrative representation of the various proce...

A portfolio of projects known as FARMSCAPE employed an approach that involved scientists engaged directly with groups of farmers to explore matters of tactical risk management and strategic planning in dryland cropping systems. Integral to this was the use of a computer-based cropsimulation model known as APSIM. Two key strategies have been tried to deliver the FARMSCAPE approach more widely, and in a cost-effective and commercially-sustainable manner: a) FARMSCAPE Training and Accreditation and b) Yield-Prophet® on-line. There are no guarantees that these strategies will result in widespread use of simulation, and a recent contribution to the diffusion literature (Moore, 1999) provided the stimulus for an investigation into the adoption potential of cropping systems simulation. Moore (1999) proposed two distinct markets for complex technology products, separated by a ‘chasm’ between the early adopter (also termed visionary) and early majority (pragmatist) adoption categories. The c...

In global agricultural, decision making at all levels are increasing rapidly due to unreliable and uneven distribution of combined experi-ence of complex processes associated with the food production. Besides flaws in human initiative judgement have far-reaching consequences for the sustainable agriculture development. Therefore, aiding the reliability and deficiencies of human judgement and quality decision-making has been a major focus of research throughout the history particularly with the development of Decision Support Systems (DSSs). DSS is interactive computer-based system that help decision makers solve unstructured problems under complex and uncertain conditions by providing access to data through procedures and analytical reasoning. These systems have been designed to address complex tasks involving multiple disciplines of agriculture, enabling us to mimic the necessary requirements of crop with respect to the land characteristics so that the optimum objectives speci-fied by the user is obtained. Experimental use of these systems has resulted in improved integrated crop production and management with restrict-ed use of the natural resources together with improved farm income and reduced negative environmental impact. With the advent of powerful computation, efficient database management system, on-line analytical processing (OLAP), improved knowledge representation, efficient searching techniques, data warehousing and mining, Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS); DSS are being extensively used world-wide using state of art technologies, integrating multiple models for sustainable agriculture development from farm to fork, despite “Problem of Implementation”. Once the barrier is crossed, it will give a leading role to DSS in global sustainable agriculture.

No-Till cropping systems have evolved rapidly since the early 1960s and have attracted attention world-wide. The difficulty of transferring new technologies is also well established. The selection of a tillage system is a difficult management decision with long term ...

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1985

The current conflict between agriculture and environmental issues (e.g. intensive energy uses, production input contaminating the environment, etc.) needs to be reduced. External entities (e.g. governmental, public) have and continue to apply pressure on the agricultural sector to change focus from quantity towards quality and sustainability. This change has necessitated the introduction of more advanced activity monitoring systems and information systems to assure compliance with restrictions and standards. Sensors for monitoring of performance or bio status and positioning systems can provide site-specific date for enhanced decision-making. However, currently data logistic problems stand in the way of extended utilisation. The aim of this project is to develop a Farm Management Information System (FMIS) to support the management of information, specifically in relation to real-time management decisions. As an integrated part, FMIS should handle reporting as well as application gen...

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