A DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR FRUIT CROPS FOR ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGIC CALCULATIONS

In 1991, the Dutch government presented a policy program to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture. A reduction can be achieved in different ways. Because recently Dutch fruit growers have faced financial problems, there is a need for a decision support system which enables them to evaluate both the economic and ecologic consequences of management decisions. The developed computer model exists of two parts: 1) a gross margin to make calculations for a specific planting for one year, using three different ways of crop protection and 2) calculations are made for the whole fruit holding for periods up to 15 years.

Calculations are presented to show the capabilities of the first part of the model. For example, with the gross margin part of the model, various cultivars, planting densities, levying and sprayers are evaluated. Comparison of the calculations with other research shows that the model is a good instrument to translate the effects of various crop protection systems into economic and ecologic terms.