Expert systems for agriculture

Recent advances in computer technology have been made possible the development of Expert Systems. Expert Systems are special computer software applications that are capable of carrying out reasoning and analysis functions in narrowly defined subject areas at proficiency levels approaching that of a human expert. The prime targets for the development of expert systems applications in agriculture are the narrowly defined subject areas which have experts available for solving problems. All commercial crop production systems in existance today are potential candidates for Expert Systems. These Expert Systems would take the form of integrated crop management decision aids which would encompass irrigation, nutritional problems and fertilization, weed control-cultivation and herbicide application, and insect control and insecticide and/or nematicide application. Additional subject areas of potential are plant pathology, salinity management, crop breeding, animal pathology, and animal herd management. The advantage of Expert Systems is that once developed they can raise the performance of the average worker to the level of an expert.     

A domain-specific language framework for farm management information systems in precision agriculture

Precision Agriculture - Farm management information system (FMIS) is an important element of precision agriculture to support the decision making process in the agricultural business. Developing...     

The impact of farm management on value of management information systems

The value of management information systems (MISs) arises from improved managerial decision making and, therefore, will vary from farm to farm. Insight into this variation will be of use not only to farmers who consider (new) MIS investments, but also to companies that design and market MISs. In this study, the impact of farm management on the value of sow-herd MISs is investigated. Within the same research population, farm management is assessed with two conceptually different classification approaches — the sociological ‘style of farming’ approach and the farm-economic ‘management level’ approach. Management levels of sow farmers turned out to be positively correlated with MIS value (r=0.35, P=0.02). Although farmers with high management levels tend to be better informed anyway than farmers with low management levels, they get more added value from MISs.     

Architecture design approach for IoT-based farm management information systems

Precision Agriculture - Smart farming adopts advanced technology and the corresponding principles to increase the amount of production and economic returns, often also with the goal to reduce the...     

Reference architecture design for farm management information systems: a multi-case study approach

Precision Agriculture - One of the key elements of precision agriculture is the farm management information system (FMIS) that is responsible for data management, analytics and subsequent decision...     

专家系统在农业上的应用与发展趋势

农业专家系统是运用人工智能系统技术，使用计算机来模拟专家的思维，代替农业专家进行诊断、决策与规划的一个研究领域。本文阐述了国内外农业专家系统的发展概况及应用情况，结合信息技术发展，提出了我国农业专家系统的发展趋势。     

专家系统及其在农业上的应用与发展

农业专家系统是运用人工智能系统技术,使用计算机来模拟专家的思维,代替农业专家进行诊断、决策与规划的一个研究领域。本文阐述了国内外农业专家系统的发展概况、在农业上的应用情况,结合信息技术发展,提出了我国农业专家系统的发展趋势。     

Media ethics and agriculture: Advertiser demands challenge farm press's ethical practices

The agricultural communicator is a key link in transmitting information to farmers. If agricultural communicators' ethics are compromised, the resulting biases in news production could have serious detrimental effects on the quality of information conveyed to farmers. But, to date, agricultural communicators' perceptions of ethical problems they encounter at work has not been examined. This study looks at the dimensions of ethical concerns for topics area (agricultural) journalists as defined by practitioners. To determine these dimensions, we sent open ended questionnaires (50 percent response rate) to members of two professional agricultural journalist associations: the Newspaper Farm Editors of America and the American Agricultural Editors' Association. Agricultural communicators overwhelmingly focus on one specific threat to objectivity—advertising pressure. Both NFEA and AAEA respondents indicated that agricultural journalists' responses to advertising pressure adversely affected the entire profession. The responses indicated that agricultural writers were concerned with the different types of pressures and the effects of advertising pressure on the industry as a whole. NFEA and AAEA respondents mentioned both indirect pressure, “freebies,” conferences, trips and press releases from advertising or public relations sections of agri-business firms, and direct pressures from advertisers, salesmen and publishers. The respondents were clearly more comfortable when newspaper policy protected them from advertising pressure and when they had techniques to reduce this pressure. The editors' and reporters' perceptions of advertising pressure clearly indicates that advertising abuses are a clear and present danger and one worthy of far more attention than it has previously received.     

基于现代农业的烟叶农场探索与实践

总结潍坊烟区推进现代烟草农场现状,分析存在的问题,并结合探索与实践,提出基于现代农业形势下提升烟叶农场组织水平、技术水平、服务水平、信息化水平、质量保证水平、主体意识的推进路径和取得成效。     

关于兴办农业科技示范场的思考

分析了湖南省农业科技示范场的现状，提出办好科技示范场要做到四个方面，即：要有正确的思想认识；要强调适度规模和项目的科技含量；要按市场规律办事，强调效益；要解放思想，构建灵活的经营机制。     

Information technology and farm management: developments and perspectives

Our aspirations are pessimistic for the fast diffusion of complex and demanding information technology (IT) aids and decision support systems (DSSs) among farmers. This view arises from some results of the new institutional economics, recent results of empirical decision research, data from farmers applications of decision models, as well as experiences introducing farm-level DSSs by our own working group at Giessen. For some areas of decision making, one can only hope that the use of models heightens problem awareness by the user, thus providing additional insights into the usually complex decision space. If, however, farmers want to increase the economic efficiency of their production and marketing processes by decreasing waste and friction, then we must continue to develop and refine knowledge-based DSSs. Problem selection, however, should be driven by new results of empirical decision research. Because imperfect knowledge exists regarding the input–output relations of agricultural production systems, as well as about the time- and space-variant uncontrollable input variables, close co-operation with the biological disciplines of agricultural science is needed. Multi-disciplinary research and end user orientation seem to be the key factors for further progress.     

行业农业企业经营与区域农业企业经营——农业企业系列研究之三

提出行业农业企业经营和区域农业企业经营两个概念,研究了前者的可行性和后者的具体模式,分析其理论和实践意义,认为:二者创立了农村经营体制改革的新方向、整体解决"三农"问题的新模式、提高农业和农业组织化程度的新途径。提出提升农业企业经营理论和实践,在全国推进农业企业化;明确农业企业的作用,重新确立农民的主体地位;反思农业企业和农业产业化现行政策,为农业企业经营提供系统的政策支撑等建议。     

适度规模经营与农户玉米储备损失

为探究不同种植规模条件下,储备规模与农户储备损失的关系,更好地保障国家粮食安全,本研究基于中国23省1 196份玉米种植户的问卷调查数据,在测算中国农户玉米储备损失的基础上,按照经营规模对农户进行分组,采用二次项模型和分位数回归方法分析不同规模条件下储备规模对农户玉米储备损失的影响,并考察储备规模和农户玉米储备损失的关...     

Social sustainability, farm labor, and organic agriculture: Findings from an exploratory analysis

Much of the attention by social scientists to the rapidly growing organic agriculture sector focuses on the benefits it provides to consumers (in the form of pesticide-free foods) and to farmers (in the form of price premiums). By contrast, there has been little discussion or research about the implications of the boom in organic agriculture for farmworkers on organic farms. In this paper, we ask the question: From the perspective of organic farmers, does “certified organic” agriculture encompass a commitment to “sustainability” that prioritizes social goals? Specifically, we aim to broaden our understanding of the relationship between social sustainability and organic agriculture by drawing attention to issues affecting farmworkers, whose labor and contribution tends to elude most discussions of organic agriculture. We present findings from a survey of organic farmers in California about the possible incorporation of social standards into organic certification criteria. Our findings suggest that, at best, lukewarm support for social certification within organic agriculture exists among certified organic farmers in California. They also question expectations that organic agriculture necessarily fosters social or even economic sustainability for most of the farmers and farmworkers involved. However, we also find exceptions to the patterns evidenced in our survey. In-depth interviews with select organic farmers demonstrate that there are individuals whose practices are atypical and demonstrate that, under some circumstances, an organic production system can be at once environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.     

Information management in farm production

Although the microcomputer has significant potential for enhancing farm decisionmaking, implementation of that innovation must occur within the framework of each farm's information system. In this paper the concept of alternative information networks is suggested for industrial stage versus information stage farms. Evidence is presented that suggests that a movement from industrial stage farms is occurring. Implications of such a movement for farm adoption of computers are discussed.     

The role of RFID in agriculture: Applications, limitations and challenges

The recent advances in RFID offer vast opportunities for research, development and innovation in agriculture. The aim of this paper is to give readers a comprehensive view of current applications and new possibilities, but also explain the limitations and challenges of this technology.RFID has been used for years in animal identification and tracking, being a common practice in many farms. Also it has been used in the food chain for traceability control. The implementation of sensors in tags, make possible to monitor the cold chain of perishable food products and the development of new applications in fields like environmental monitoring, irrigation, specialty crops and farm machinery.However, it is not all advantages. There are also challenges and limitations that should be faced in the next years. The operation in harsh environments, with dirt, extreme temperatures; the huge volume of data that are difficult to manage; the need of longer reading ranges, due to the reduction of signal strength due to propagation in crop canopy; the behavior of the different frequencies, understanding what is the right one for each application; the diversity of the standards and the level of granularity are some of them.     

Gender and resource management: Community supported agriculture as caring-practice

Interviews with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) growers in Iowa, a majority of whom are women, shed light on the relationship between gender and CSA as a system of resource management. Growers, male and female alike, are differentiated by care and caring-practices. Care-practices, historically associated with women, place priority on local context and relationships. The concern of these growers for community, nature, land, water, soil, and other resources is manifest in care-motives and care-practices. Their specific mix of motives differs: providing safe and nutritious food, educating self and others, and building relationships with other growers, shareholder-members, and the land. Care-practices include reducing or eliminating chemical usage, encouraging or accepting beneficial insects and wildlife, building soil, and creating resource management partnerships with shareholder members. CSA, viewed through a lens of care, may offer a means of transcending gender stereotypes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.