Abstract

ABSTRACT The Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) is an expert system being developed by the Site-Specific Technologies for Agriculture (SST4Ag) precision farming research project at the INEEL. DSS4Ag uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and computer science technologies to make spatially variable, site-specific, economically optimum decisions on fertilizer use. The DSS4Ag has an open architecture that allows for external input and addition of new requirements and integrates its results with existing agricultural systems' infrastructures. The DSS4Ag reflects a paradigm shift in the information revolution in agriculture that is precision farming. We depict this information revolution in agriculture as an historic trend in the agricultural decision-making process. Using this decision support system, in 1997 we generated a variable-rate fertilizer recommendation recipe for a 54.6 ha wheat field with the goal of optimum economic return, not maximum yield. The field was split into blocks, alternately fertilized with the variable-rate recipe and with the uniform application method used by the farmer. The DSS4Ag fertilizer recipe reduced fertilizer cost 39.7% and yield 3.3%, which resulted in a net economic gain of US $14.31/ha as compared to the uniform application used by the farmer. In 1998 the DSS4Ag was tested on a 64.7 ha wheat field and a 89 ha potato field. The DSS4Ag wheat recipe reduced fertilizer cost by US $15.81/ha, a saving of 30.6% between DSS4Ag and the recipe developed from recommendations by