Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
A recently reported EU-funded project, FutureFarm, was targeted at develop-
ing a new Farm Information Management System that would provide farmers with
formal instructions, recommended guidelines, and documentation requirements to
help them make optimal decisions in farm management (Srensen et al., 2010, 2011).
The system components were depicted using pictures and linked to the subsequent
derived conceptual model. It illustrated the benefit of using dedicated system analy-
sis methodologies, as a preliminary step to the actual design of a novel farm man-
agement information system. It also used the core-task analysis (Boreham et al.,
2002) method to combine science-based modeling, practice-based modeling, and
integrated information modeling for the effective management and processing of
information of different origin. Based on a fully structured information flow decom-
position method, this system allows many agents to deliver information to the deci-
sion processes to fully emulate the tacit knowledge that the farmer is currently using.
This FutureFarm project developed a concept of support services that sustains the
need for more automated decision processes for agricultural production. In addition,
new information management concepts and designs also mean that farmers will have
to be ready to adopt new working habits and perhaps also undergo further training
for effectively using new tools to support their more efficient operations.
3.7 SUMMARY
In summary, AIS integrates electronic devices, precision farming services, and data
management software to provide timely and seamless information support for farm-
ers to achieve effective and profitable mechanized agricultural production. AIS must
be capable of automatically handling data management functions including: collect-
ing data from various sources, representing the collected data in observable forms,
extracting actionable data from the relevant data, and disseminating the actionable
data to different users for implementation. As an emerging technology, AIS will
provide a valuable tool to producers in practicing mechanized precision farming
operations to help them achieve their goal of profitable and sustainable production.
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