An Integrated Decision Support System for Intercropping

Abstract

Intercropping, which is the agricultural practice of growing two or more crops in the same land area, is not currently yielding adequate results in Africa. Despite the advantages of intercropping like improved soil fertility, protection against pests and diseases and eventual increase in farm yield, this farming practice is faced with challenges—inadequate planning, bad crop management and lack of required intercropping expertise. Consequently, this has resulted in inadequate reward for farmers and a general decline in crop production. In this regard, the authors present an Intelligent and Integrated Intercropping Decision Support System for Intercropping (IDSS-I) for improved crop production. The design adopts a forecasting component that provides farmers with the estimated yield and income depending on the size of land, soil type and weather condition. Although the implementation was carried out using JAVA and SQL, usability testing revealed 85% acceptance of the tool among the contacted 10 large scale farmers. It was also confirmed that the system provided 95% diagnosis information for 90% common Africa crop diseases.