Abstract:
An artificial neural network (ANN) approach was use
d to model the wheat production.
From an extensive data collection involving 40 farm
s in Canterbury, New Zealand, the
average wheat production was estimated at 9.9 t ha
-1
. The final ANN model developed was
capable of predicting wheat production under differ
ent conditions and farming systems
using direct and indirect technical factors. After
examining more than 140 different
factors, 6 factors were selected as influential inp
ut into the model. The final ANN model
can predict wheat production based on farm conditio
ns (wheat area and irrigation
frequency), machinery condition (tractor hp ha
-1
and number of passes of sprayer) and
farm inputs (N and fungicides consumption) in Cante
rbury with an error margin of ±9%
(±0.89 t ha
-1
).
Keywords
: Agricultural Production, Agricultural Systems, Mo
delling.
