Interactive simulation modeling in farm decision-making

Of late, a series of methods and tools have evolved in order to assist farmers in making decisions, based on the development of computers. In this paper, an attempt has been made to focus on simulation tools as a means to expand interactivity. The first part deals with the understanding of interactivity. Then the use of simulation as a support for interactivity is developed. In this endeavor, the evolution of understanding of the role played by simulation tools for farm management decision-making has been considered crucial, based on experiments carried out in an interactive manner with both farmers and consultants. Finally, we introduce and discuss numerous potential opportunities provided by the new techniques through automatic machine learning and multi-agent modeling. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.