Development of Decision Support Software for Matching TractorImplement System Used on Iranian Farms

- A decision support software (DSS) was developed in Visual Basic 6.0 programming language for matching and selecting implements with tractors and time management of farm operations. The proper selection and matching of tractor and implements is now become very important and difficult in Iran because of availability of variety of tractor models and powers ranging from 5.5 to 60 kW and variety of implement sizes. The purpose of this study was development software for mechanized operation and its application in paddy’s farms. The developed DSS was tested with a case study to demonstrate the flexibility of the software. This software has databases including variety of tractor models and implements sizes, existing data from five climatology stations from 1990 to 2010, tractors and implements performance and soil and operation conditions for the zone of this study. Tractors and implements were selected and matched for paddy fields by developed DSS. Finally, tillage operation in paddy fields was managed with selected tractors and implements. Use of DSS in this study indicated that tractors with power less than 35 kW are able to complete the tillage operations (plowing, harrowing and puddling) for paddy fields lower than 40 hectares. Also, results indicate that energy consumption for tillage operation on paddy’s farms in case study was 17.36 percentages less than other paddies.