Designing a variety selection decision support system for cereal growers

Abstract Selecting the correct variety of a cereal crop is a vital first step, influencing all subsequent crop husbandry decisions and determining the potential successfulness of a crop in both economic and agronomic terms. Growers make this decision by considering farm location, local trial results and knowledge, and their priorities. Balancing these factors, information sources, and priorities is challenging for growers. Complex multi‐factor analyses are required in the decision‐making process; while computer‐based decision support systems (DSSs) have been created to support this process, the localized nature and poor user‐friendliness of the DSSs have resulted in limited grower adoption. This study aims to design a user‐centric DSS to assist growers in selecting an optimal cereal variety for their priorities in each field. The system integrates local factors with independent cereal variety evaluation data, such as national “recommended lists.” It can be applied globally where such listings are available. Two use cases are described with Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and New Zealand's Foundation for Arable Research wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) recommended lists. Characteristic evaluation scores for each variety were normalized and weighted based on user priorities and field location using the simple additive weighting method. Growers’ local yield history of each variety, if available, can be included to create a site‐specific DSS. The outcome is an overall ranking of the varieties present on the recommended list, enabling the user to make an informed decision on their chosen variety while accommodating market demands, seed availability, and their own preference.