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DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF FARM MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (A CASE STUDY OF MOSAD ANIMAL CARE)

Dept: COMPUTER SCIENCE File: Word(doc) Chapters: 1-5 Views: 1

Abstract

Future and even current European farmers are experiencing that the managerial tasks for arable farmingare shifting to a new paradigm, requiring increased attention to economic viability and the interaction with the surroundings. To this end, an integration of information systems is needed to advise managers of formal instructions, recommended guidelines and documentation requirements for various decision making processes. In the EU funded project FutureFarm, a new model and prototype of a new Farm Information Management System (FMIS) which meets these changing requirements will be developed. The aim of the work presented in this paper is to define and analyse the system boundaries and relevant decision processes for such a novel FMIS as a prerequisite for a dedicated information modelling. The boundaries and scope of the system are described in terms of actors and functionalities, where actors are entities interfacing with the system (e.g. managers, software, databases). In order to a

  1.1   Introduction/Background of the study

A farm Management Information System (FMIS) is a system for managing the inventory of the farm. The term ‘’inventory’’ is used to refers to the farm working tools associated with the running of farm activities.

Farm Management Information System (FMIS) is also the program or software developed to describe the various on-farm programs and to assist farmers in managing their enterprise, natural resources, inventories, animals etc.

In today’s dynamic world everything is changing very radically; and as the 21st century dawns, revolutionary changes are also beginning to challenge the business and marketing world. To  cope with the increasing competition and uncertainty, companies need to  take  advantage  of  the  information  technology  (IT) and  information  systems  (IS) to deal with the demanding challenges faced when carrying out their day to day activities,  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 FMIS when it comes to operation of their business, despite the increasing professionalism in the agricultural sector and its increasing usage of IT technologies.

Productivity gains in the agricultural industries have historically been driven by the adoption of new technical products and processes. It has been the realm of extension to make sure that farmers hear about these processes and technologies, and usually it has been State governments who have funded the extension effort. With the rapid increase in the complexity of the technology of farming, there is now a recognized need to improve the skills and education of our farmers – the human capital of agriculture. The Internet is changing the way society accesses and processes information. Farmers now have access to a wide range of information

about many aspects of their farming systems, but it is often thought by scientists and extension specialists that many lack the skills necessary to use that information to improve their farm profitability and sustainability through technical innovation.

 

1.2     Statement of Problem

It is very unfortunate that the technology potentials have not been fully or even adequately realized in the field of farm management information. Very little farm managers has grabbed this powerful it opportunities.  This has put managers and researchers behind.

Some of the problems that farm managers faces are as follows:-

1. In large or medium farm firms, manual recording of the farm inventories or machineries (tractor, Lorries, spade, van, etc.) and keeping track of them is very difficult and it can lead to mis-counting and mis-management of the farm inventory.
2. Also, in large and medium farm firms, farm managers find it difficult to keep track of the farm product such as crops, eggs etc. and this can result to massive loss during sales
3. Farm managers sometimes make mistakes during the recording of sales due to the higher amount of figures or numbers to be calculated.

 

1.3      Objective / Purpose of the study

The objective that led to this research work is basically to expose the Nigeria farmers in general and especially MOSAD ANIMAL CARE farmer manager with the effective, efficient, accurate and timely form of management information system.

The objectives or purposes of this study are as follows:-

1. Development of a system that will keep track of farm inventories and products.
2. Efficient recording of day to day sales for accountability and easy retrieval of records.
3. Management of the farm activities.
4. To convert the operation from manual system of farm management to computerized system.

 

1.4     Significant of Study

This Project provides an alternative to the manual method of keeping farm records and products so as to drastically reduce the error which is normally associated with manual record, Farm Management Information System (FMIS) is also very significant in recording of sales of business activities because the return on investment and benefits to farm business in the area of stocks processing, accountability and accurate data collation for effective management of the farm business.

Furthermore, it will totally eliminate the inherent problem which will in turn bring about immense cash value to Mosad Animal Care and to all farm managers in Nigeria. It will definitely expose and enlighten the staff and managers of farm in NPAPSCE on what they supposed to know about their management.

Though the study is restricted to Mosad Animal Care, however, the result of the findings will let of immense benefits to all Nigeria farm managers and as well to students conducting similar research work on the same or related topics.

1.5     Scope of the Study

This project covers the farm management and information for Farm firms, the software development will cover the record keeping of sales, keeping track and managing of inventories and farm product of Mosad Animal Care.

 

1.6   Limitation of the Study

This farm management and information program is windows based Application which can work on windows environment like windows XP, windows 7 and windows 8 platform.

This project is based on the animal aspect of the farming processes and not the crop aspect.

Also based on the research carried out using (case study) as a case study the system can only work for (case study) and any other farm that their operation is like that of (case study)

1.7     Methodology

The source from which the necessary data were elicited for carryout this research work is basically from primary source.

The researcher underwent a thorough interview, the farm manager Mr. Soji Mosadomi was interviewed and she was kind enough to respond to the interview questions.  Finally, information were elicited from the observation techniques during the investigation, web browsing and research from library textbooks.

1.8     Project Layout

The introduction of the project, statement of the problem, significance of study, objective and purpose of study, scope of the study, limitation of the project, methodology of study and definition of terms are all contained and discussed in Chapter one.

Chapter two discusses the literature review, overview of Farm management information system, concept of management information systems, theory of farm management, farm system theory, theory of management by objectives, the practice of farm management, farm system approach, management by objectives, benefits of farm management information system and diversity of European agriculture.

Chapter three contains the methodology, system analyses and design used in carrying out the project.

Chapter four contains the system design and implementation of the project.

Chapter five gives a summary, conclusion on the project with recommendations for further work.

 

1.9     Definition of Terms

1. Record –Keeping: – is the systematic procedure by which the records of an organization are created, captured, maintained, and disposed of.
2. Sales: – the exchange of a commodity for money; the action of selling something.
3. Inventory: – a complete list terms such as property, goods in stock, or the contents of a building.
4. Management: – the organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives.
5. Computer – A machine used in modern times in organization and homes do manipulate data.
6. Data – Is a row fact that has no meaning.
7. Database – A collection of interrelated data stared with controlled redundancy to serve one or more application.
8. Information – Information is a data that has been evaluated. It is a processed data.
9. Information Overload – A situation which the sheer amount of information in a system is simply too great to be coped with by the information management available. It is overflow of information which slows down decision performance.
10. Information system- A systematic way of organizing the handling of information, from information gathering to information retrieval and use.
11. Management – The process of procuring, allocating, combing and utilizing or organizational resources expressed usually as 3ms (men, materials and money) through planning organizing directing and controlling activities of work of the organization member to reach certain stated objectives.
12. Management Information System – Mis is an integrated and holistic reporting network system in an organization that provides planning and controlling information for effective decision making.
13. Software – The programs that control the computer operation the system programme controls the hardware component of computer which application program controls task performed by computer.