Applications of DSSs in Irrigation and Production Planning in Agriculture

Abstract

Agricultural management has become an increasingly complex endeavor. As a result, there is the need to generate knowledge from information that can guide practice, and in that aspect, decision support systems (DSSs) can contribute to achieving this goal. A DSS can be defined as a computer-based information system that is used to support complex decision-making. The aim of this paper is to present such a DSS focused on the agricultural sector. Its purpose is to be used for the planning of agricultural production and better utilization of a region's available resources. The development of the DSS relies on the classic theory of such tools utilizing MCDM models, databases, and a user interfaces. The proposed DSS was applied in the prefecture of Larissa in Central Greece. The DSS is adaptable to different contexts, and applications of these capabilities are presented at the end of the paper, applied in different regions under additional objectives and/or constraints.