ISHS Acta Horticulturae 276: II International Symposium on Computer Modelling in Fruit Research and Orchard Management
COMPUTER AIDED FRUIT FARM MANAGEMENT |
| Author: | F. Winter |
| Abstract:
Personal computers are being used more frequently in fruit farms to help growers make their management decisions. Mainly the younger generation of farmers is taking advantage of computer use. However, there is very little software available for fruit farm management. The use of personal computers would become more attractive if software verified for practical use were to be developed. At the research level, some very helpful models have been developed. But for growers, the software has to be transformed so it will be simpler to use. This is often done by professional software companies. In the first place, the grower wants to check his input/output of labor, material, crop and finances using a Standard Farm Management System. Therefore, he needs the capabilities to update the daily activities of his fruit farm. On the input side he must fill in the significant elements of his farm, the basic data would include: definition of his orchards, equipment, materials, workers. The most often used input will be to update the daily activities of the fruit farm in a journal, making perhaps 1000 or more entries per year. Therefore, this option has to be as comfortable and easy to handle as possible. If all significant inputs are done well, the grower will be able to check many parameters of his farm such as time and cost of labor, material costs per orchard or total costs of the farm by week, month, year or even life time. The possibility to compare his results to standards using a standard model will be very helpful to detect weak points on his farm. Some other modules which could be directly connected to the Farm Management System include: an interface to the bookkeeping system to fill in elements used on both systems only once; a crop forecast system to provide for seasonal workers, packing material for harvest and for financial reasons. Other useful farm management models not connected directly to the Farm Management System might include: a financial management system (such as that presented by Goedegebure), orchard replacement, fruit thinning. Another group of Farm Management software depends on the availability of weather data. These include: forecast of plant diseases, eventual connection with phenological models, forecast of fruit ripening, fruit development and harvest. | |
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