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Subject: Response to - Gardening ES
Message-ID: <19880808042427.2.NICK@HOWARD-JOHNSONS.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Date: 8 Aug 88 04:24:00 GMT
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Date: Fri, 5 Aug 88 12:58 EDT
From: IT21%SYSB.SALFORD.AC.UK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
To: ailist@AI.AI.MIT.EDU
Subject:  Response to - Gardening ES

Re. parvis@gitpyr.gatech.edu  and
    otter!ijd@hplabs.hp.com  (Ian Dickinson)

Parvis wanted details of gardenign packages, and Ian Dickinson replied
that there was a farming ES by ICI plc.

The system was called COUNSELLOR, and provided advice to farmers via a
ViewData system on the use of fungicides.  It predicted the disease
profile and then recommended sprays throughout the season.  It allowed
the farmer do to what-iffing for cost-benefit analysis.  I worked on it
in the early days, and am pleased to see that it is one of the ESs that
went into use (about 3 years ago) and, I believe is still being used.

Looking back, I rather wish I had built an ES to advise on organic
farming instead!

For fuller details see

Jones M.J., Crates D.T. (1985) 'Expert Systems and Videotext: an
application in the marketing of agrochemicals' in 'Research and
Development in Expert Systems - proceedings of the Fourth Technical
Conference of the British Computer Society Specialist Group on Expert
Systems' ed. Bramer M.A., Cambridge University Press.

Andrew Basden.