Web-Based Decision Support for Sustainable Pest Management in Fruit Orchards: Development of the Swiss System SOPRA - Efficient Decision Support Systems: Practice and Challenges from Current to Future - page 374

Here we introduce the forecasting tool SOPRA which has been developed to optimize
timing of monitoring, management and control measures of major insect pests in Swiss fruit
orchards. The system consists of a locally based user interface with the different species
models and a web-interface to provide simulation results and decision support to
consultants and growers (www.sopra.info).

Decision finding process

Optimum timing is
• increasing certainty
•saving time

Monitoring
pest

Control
measures

Risk
assessment

No
Treatment

Treatment
required

Optimum timing is
• increasing efficacy,
• reducing side effects,
• reducing the number
of treatments

Fig. 1. Importance of precise timing during decision finding process in plant protection

Applying time-varying distributed delay approaches, phenology-models were developed
driven by solar radiation, air temperature and soil temperature on hourly basis.
Relationships between temperature and stage specific development rates for the relevant
stages of the life cycles were established under controlled laboratory conditions for the most
important orchard pests (Fig. 2).