The IBSNAT project

Abstract

The purpose of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnology Transfer (IBSNAT) project is to assemble and distribute a portable, user-friendly, computerized decision support system which enables users to match the biological requirements of crops to the physical characteristics of land to attain objectives specified by the user. The decision support software consists of (i) a data base management system to enter, store and retrieve a minimum set of soil, crop, weather, site and management data to validate and apply the software, (ii) crop models capable of simulating genotype x environment x management interactions, and (iii) application programs that enable a user to analyze and display results of multi-year agronomic experiments conducted in the computer.

The project is based on a systems analysis and simulation approach, and is guided by the premise that it is more convenient to use models to find alternative ways to improve agroecosystem performances than to experiment with the system itself.

The main incentive to participate is the project’s capacity to enable the participants to achieve greater research efficiency through better integration of effort. The key to project success has been to foster and transfer leadership to the participating scientists and to sustain an environment of trust that allows them to do what is right and necessary. The IBSNA T experience clearly demonstrates that international cooperation is possible, worthwhile, and necessary to deal with local and global issues of food security, environmental quality and sustainable development.