An ecology of a DSS: reflections on managing wheat crops in the northeastern Australian grains region with WHEATMAN |
| |
| Institution: | 1. NSW Agriculture, RMB 944, Calala Lane, Tamworth, 2340, Australia;2. QDPI, Rural Extension Centre, PO Box 1000 University of Queensland—Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia;1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China;2. National Engineering Research Centre for Magnesium Alloys, Chongqing 400030, China;3. Department of Physics, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan;4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sarwak, Kota Samarahan, 94300 Sarwak, Malaysia;5. Department of Applied Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China;1. Demography Unit, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Sweden;2. Centre for Economic Demography and Department of Economic History, Lund University, Sweden;3. IZA, Germany;4. Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London, United Kingdom;1. State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou 121001, China;3. Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Ecology, College of Life Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China |
| |
| Abstract: | An ecological framework is used to study the reinforcing and limiting processes on a computerised decision support system (DSS) designed for winter cropping decisions in the northeastern Australian Grains-belt (WHEATMAN). We found that WHEATMAN has had a significant impact on how many advisers structure their thinking and much of their advice on winter cropping in the region, but the number of routine users of WHEATMAN remains relatively low. Computer hardware was the most obvious limiting factor to widespread use during the early stages of the 15 year history of the project. However, despite a dramatic increase in the availability of computers on grain farms (from 5 to 75%), a maximum of 250 out of an estimated 4500 grain farmers in the region with computers directly use WHEATMAN. Another common limiting factor for adoption of DSS is a failure to engage with end users; yet from early days the WHEATMAN project had a high degree of extension agronomist and farmer input. We suggest that just as the debate on the adoption of DSS was dominated by discussions of computerisation in the late 1980s, notions of user involvement have dominated current debate. Experiences with WHEATMAN suggest that well designed software and a focused development team approach, good access to hardware and representative end user involvement are necessary requirements to help explain the comparative longevity of the project. On their own these are not sufficient requirements for widespread adoption or impact. We argue that the perception of farmers of the nature of dryland farm management in general, and the specific decisions addressed by WHEATMAN are the primary limitations to the routine use of a computerised DSS for tactical decision making. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
