Decision Support Systems in Agriculture: Some Successes and a Bright Future - Efficient Decision Support Systems: Practice and Challenges from Current to Future - page 291

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Decision Support Systems in Agriculture:
Some Successes and a Bright Future
Russell Yost, Tasnee Attanandana, Carol J. Pierce Colfer and Stephen Itoga
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
USA
1. Introduction
This chapter is dedicated to the capture, preservation, reuse and learning of agricultural
knowledge. We illustrate the potential of information technology with a simple example of a
writing pen. Before the age of information, a person with a pen or pencil could write beautiful
poetry. If she gave or loaned the pen to someone else, she could no longer write poetry, but the
other person, would have gained a tool that helped write poetry. In this case, the first person's
loss is the second person's gain, which, in economic terms, is a zero-sum game. Of importance
is the fact that the relationship between the first and second person has changed and in order
to continue writing poetry the first must obtain permission from the second to continue
writing. Thus a certain measure of power has been passed with the possession of the pen and a
dependency has changed between the first person and the second. Rare is the individual that
does not see this as a clear disadvantage for the first person. Also rare is the relationship
between two people that would not be strained by such a reversal.
Imagine, however, if the first person were to make a copy of the pen and give it to the
second person, while retaining the use of the pen and thus suffer no loss in ability to write
poetry. The relationship between the first person and the second changes from one of
dependency to one of collaboration and mutual empowerment. Rare is the relationship
between two persons that would not be strengthened rather than strained by the sharing of
our information age pen. In this case no longer is it a zero-sum transaction. No longer is
there the capable and the incapable. No longer is there gain of one at the loss of the other.
Rather it has become a win-win situation in which all gain. Under these conditions, the first
person is more likely and could be stimulated to make copies and distribute pens to
everyone in the world, since it no longer results in their losing the tools to write poetry. This
is the potential of information technology. Information technology can enable and empower
us to share tools without the loss of use of the tool ourselves. It seems we have yet to fully
exploit the potential of this technology.
2. Scope of this chapter
We will concentrate this chapter on agricultural knowledge, particularly that pertinent and
relevant to tropical agroecosystems, largely because the bulk of our experience with
decision-aids has been concerned with such production systems. Our thesis is that
successful decision-aids need to recognize the inherent complexity of such systems. It is the
thesis of this chapter that decision-aids can be tools to assist in the management of these