CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
• BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Accurate and easy to use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) are of
fundamental importance for a successful operational farm management.
Unfortunately, most farmers do not use FMISs when it comes to operate their
business, despite the increasing professionalism in the agricultural sector and its
increasing usage of IT technologies.
This research paper’s subject are functioning FMISs for multifunctional farms that
support farmers in managing their farms both effective and efficiently. Within the
scope of this paper the term “Management” incorporates the following activities:

1. Planning;
2. Organization;
3. Monitoring;
4. Controlling.

This paper’s objective is to deduction of a specific FMIS from a general FMIS to

support the management of multifunctional and medium-sized farms. To test the
developed FMIS we have introduced it to a multifunctional, medium-sized German
farm, serving as a case study.

The intended FMIS has to accurately display all branches of the farm at hand, so
that the newly developed FMIS represents a valuable tool for the farmer to
successfully manage his farm. Successful farm management in this context means
that the farmer is capable of allocating scarce resources in a way that maximizes
his profit. To empower the farmer in achieving this aim the FMIS has to master the
planning, the organization, the monitoring, and the controlling of all the farm’s
production and business processes. Besides, the FMIS has to pay special attention
to the farm’s internal interdependences of the different branches of production and
services. Lastly, the FMIS has to be easy to understand and to use, and to be
readily adaptable. Only then the system will be most likely used by the farmer.
Only if all the mentioned conditions are met the IS might be capable of enhancing
the farmer’s decision making process and of finally increasing his/her income.

• PROBLEM STATEMENT

It has been observed that farmers who keep written records and others who don’t keep records

still find it difficult to keep track in their expenses been made on their farm as such cannot weigh
the income and expenses of their farm more or less even know their monitoring progress, which

is making progress towards your goal as a farmer and that you are making profit. This is not done

by most farmers. However, keeping track of their animals in the farm, like how many animals do

I have on the farm? What is their health status? What species do I have on the farm? The feed

they take in? Is it good? Or bad? Is it reducing their production rate or not? They just care about

the income they receive on their farm. Farmers who tend to keep /these records don’t secure

them fully because they are basically written records which might get destroyed in one way or

the other without having its backup safe in any other place except that which they have written.

• MOTIVATION

This study is to bring light the successful possibilities of keeping farm records secured for the

future use which will not eliminate written records but to make sure that does written records are

secured for farmers to know how they are progressing in the farm due to this Online Farm

Management System which also keep written records in databases for privacy and retrieval of

data. In other to solve problem like

• Missing of written record

• Keeping track on previous expenses made by the farmer on the farm

• Keeping track on the farm if it is making profit or lost.

 • Keeping track on the animals in the farm if they are healthy, producing well and if they

are increasing in number or decreasing in number.

• AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of the project is to develop an Online Farm Management System that will enable animal

farmers to manage their record with internet enabled devices.

The objectives are as follows:

• Store, update and manipulate their farm records

• Generate fast reports based on analysed records

• To have access to farm records anytime and anywhere

• Give an opportunity to farmers to reduce the time spent and mistake that happens when

using the manual methods.

• METHODOLOGY.

The followings steps will be taken in order to meet the objectives of this work:

• Collection of related research data.

• Collection of information data from a farm manager who owns an animal farm.

• Designing the Online Farm Management System website for farmers.

• Designing the underlying database for record and information tracking.

• Testing the design to see if in capture all assets and desired objectives.

• ORGANIZATION OF WORK

This gives the general overview of all chapters in the entire research write up, is basically the

summary of all the chapters.

Chapter one highlights a recap of what the entire project is to cover. Chapter two, this covers

related literature in other to foster the improvement and development of knowledge, particularly

with farm manager. Chapter three, this gives the general description of the system design and its

integrated database. Chapter four gives an overview and successful possibility of how the system

is implemented, describing, the choice of all designed tools used in the design and why they are

used as a choice of tool. Chapter five concludes