ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests ways in which expert systems (ES) can contribute to solving problems faced by farmers in developing countries. It discusses some of the principal issues in agricultural development to particular strengths of the ESs approach. Farmers make their agricultural decisions within a context: past events, present conditions, and expectations for the future. Agricultural research organizations have produced a variety of reports over the years that are admirably suited to summarization in ESs. The criticism hits the mark in that rich farmers who were already heavily engaged in large-scale production for the market were well served. In the case of irrigation, for example, the great river basins and other areas where irrigation is in many ways a logical extension of natural systems are one thing; irrigation for most of the agricultural uplands of the world is quite another.
