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 op...

Until now, little attention has been paid to the geographic distribution and evaluation of genetic diversity of durum wheat from the Central Fertile Crescent (modern-day Turkey and Syria). Turkey and Syria are considered as primary centers of wheat diversity, and thousands of locally adapted wheat landraces are still present in the farmers' small fields. We planned this study to evaluate the ge...

This article extends the analysis of the impact of a system of protein premiums and discounts to that on a farmer's planned production. Despite an unambiguously negative impact on expected pro¢ts of equally likely premiums and discounts, supply response to the introduction of such a system is shown to depend on the level of seasonal variability faced by the farmer. In particular, farmers in reg...

INTRODUCTION: Head scab caused by Fusarium graminaerum (Schwabe) has caused significant losses in the soft red winter wheat crop in Kentucky and in small grain crops in many regions of North America. Damage from head scab results in reductions in seed quality, emergence, and yield of wheat. In addition, losses in food-grain quality are caused by production of fungal mycotoxins, specifically vom...

A survey of China's plant biotechnologists shows that China is developing the largest plant biotechnology capacity outside of North America. The list of genetically modified plant technologies in trials, including rice, wheat, potatoes, and peanuts, is impressive and differs from those being worked on in other countries. Poor farmers in China are cultivating more area of genetically modified pl...

In this study we investigated the perspective offered by coupling a simple vegetation growth model and ground-based remotely-sensed data for the monitoring of wheat production. A simple model was developed to simulate the time courses of green leaf area index (GLAI), dry aboveground phytomass (DAM) and grain yield (GY). A comprehensive sensitivity analysis has allowed addressing the problem of ...

Examine what determines the e last ic i ty o f supp ly Imagine yourself as a Kansas wheat farmer. Because you earn all your income from selling wheat, you devote much effort to making your land as productive as it can be. You monitor weather and soil conditions, check your fields for pests and disease, and study the latest advances in farm technology. You know that the more wheat you grow, the ...

In order to evaluate the informal wheat seed contamination with seed-bornediseases, two most important provinces (East Azarbaijan and Khorasan Razavi) forwheat production were selected in cold region of Iran in 2008-2009 crop seasonsand ten different locations (city or village) were considered in each province andten informal seed farmers were selected randomly. A seed sample (1 kg) was takenfr...

A total of 206 wheat and 200 barley farmers were interviewed in northeastern Syria to understand farmer perceptions and practice relating to modern varieties, seed sources and seed quality. Wheat farmers had better awareness and grew modern varieties (87%), applied fertilizers (99.5%), herbicides (93%), seed treatment (90%) or insecticides (41%). In contrast barley growers had low awareness (36...