Volume 27, 414

Tropical Grasslands (1993) Volume 27, 414–419

Tropical pasture establishment.
18. The potential for computer-based decision support systems to improve establishment success for sown tropical pastures

L.C. SCANLAN¹ and G.M. McKEON ²

¹ ¹Department of Primary Industries, Charters Towers, and
²Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Four types of computer-based decision support systems could be developed for pasture establishment in Queensland to overcome the problems of unreliable establishment. These relate to: (1) selection of species suited for the particular usage, location and soil conditions; (2) economic evaluation of the biologically-feasible alternatives; (3) strategic planning of when and how to plant as part of property development planning; and (4) tactical decision support for given planting conditions. The data requirements and the information delivered from each decision support system are outlined.
The main steps in development of computer based decision support systems are: (1) develop a preliminary model from available data; (2) conduct field experiments to validate the model and fill any information gaps; (3) develop a full simulation model; (4) conduct experiments with the simulation model; and (5) use the output from the simulation experiments to develop decision support systems. Stylosanthes spp. are the only pasture species for which there are sufficient data to construct the above decision support systems at this point.