An OLAP system for the analysis of integrated pest management data: application to the olive crop

Abstract

The Agri-Food sector is facing global challenges. The first concerns feeding a world population that in 2050, according to UN projections, will reach 9.3 billion people. The second challenge is the request by consumers for high quality products obtained by more sustainable, safer and more transparent agri-food chains. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) could be an important instrument to help farmers to face these challenges. The IPM requires the simultaneous use of different crop protection techniques for the control of pests using an ecological and economic approach. This work explores the possibility to develop a framework that combines the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with the IPM principles, in order to support the farmers in the decisional process, improving environmental and production performances. The proposed ICT tool is an On-Line Analytical Processing system (OLAP), which allows spatial and temporal analyses to be carried out for IPM data.