KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS FOR CROP PROTECTION - THEORY AND PRACTICE

Expert, or knowledge-based, systems were first developed during the 1960s and since that date they have been applied to a variety of problems, including crop protection. Their potential to provide expert-level advice renders them suitable for aiding decisions at several points within the overall crop protection system and at least 67 separate systems have been developed to solve problems concerned with pest identification, treatment prescription and strategic planning. Evaluation of several of these systems suggests that they are capable of providing a high level of advice and their use may bring financial benefits to users. Despite this potential, uptake of the technology has been poor and, before this can be improved, further work is needed, not only on technical issues but also on the economic, psychological and sociological aspects of utilizing knowledge-based systems in agriculture.