ORCHARD-2000 - A DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR NEW-ZEALANDS ORCHARD INDUSTRIES

To compete in world markets, New Zealand's horticultural industries must meet increasingly stringent quality standards and market preferences, and continue to offer new and innovative products. Their ability to do this depends on the continual transfer of new orchard management technologies from discipline-based research programmes. ''Orchard 2000'' is a computerised decision support system designed to provide a standard framework for the encapsulation of horticultural science into decision support ''tools'' for orchardists. These decision support tools provide information which helps decision makers with specific management decisions. The framework incorporates an orchard database which stores details of orchard layout, weather, production, operation, and finances. The decision support tools share this database rather than having their own files, so data are stored in an easily accessible and non-redundant form. These tools also have a consistent graphical user interface, reducing the learning time for new tools. Prototype decision support tools for orchardists have been tested by trial groups of apple and kiwifruit growers, consultants, and agribusiness. The prototyping approach for tool development implies continued iterative refinement. An ''open'' software standard has been adopted to encourage third party development of decision support tools.