Introducing crop simulation technology using soft systems methodology : some issues in agricultural communication

Information technology (IT) is emerging as a critical factor in the development of Australian agriculture. The capacity for IT to complement traditional extension efforts is considerable, given its ability to be effective over distance as well as its ability to store and process vast amounts of information. In addition, IT can be used to 'quantify' risk, or provide a numerical assessment of the chances of a particular crop's success in a particular agronomic and climatic environment. This function of IT can be seen as useful for primary producers who might wish to experiment with crops and cropping practices with which they have been previously unfamiliar. Using IT, farmers might be able to hypothetically test the chances of an unfamiliar crop's success on their farm without a significant physical or capital investment. A real-world example of this scenario currently exists in Queensland whereby farmers in various parts of the state are being encouraged by Queensland's Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and PMB Australia (a peanut marketing company) to grow peanuts, which have traditionally been grown in the South Burnett and around the Atherton Tablelands. This thesis reports on a project sponsored by the DPI and PMB Australia designed to explore the possibilities of using IT as a tool to help farmers make decisions about growing peanuts. The problem has been framed as a communication issue, however it is argued throughout this thesis that the entire knowledge system, incorporating farmers, scientists, IT, knowledge, and information, needs to be considered from a meta-theoretical standpoint using a multi-disciplinary framework. From this perspective, the thesis reports that understanding the relationship shared by scientists and farmers is central to the problem of designing IT to meet users' needs. This relationship is shaped by a confluence of factors, and a number of these are identified and critically analysed in this thesis. This thesis develops the idea that introducing IT to an existing knowledge system is not merely a matter of asking farmers what they need and designing IT accordingly. Rather, the introduction of IT is treated as a sociological phenomenon, and the bulk of this thesis is devoted to investigating the cultural, political, economic, historical, and technological systems in which the major stakeholders engage. This investigation is undertaken using an interpretivist perspective, and the methodology used to collect data - Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - also reflects this approach. As such, rich, diverse, qualitatively based observations are used as the basis for recommendations on policy and practice. This thesis generates a number of suggestions for action as well as some theoretical ideas about the relationship shared by scientists and farmers