Application of the GOSSYM/COMAX system to cotton crop management

These initial efforts led to the development of the GOSSYM simulation model and the accompanying COMAX expert system, which was used across the U.S. Cotton Belt to guide on-farm cotton management in the 1980s.

“Notably, these initial efforts led to the development of the GOSSYM simulation model (Table 1) and the accompanying CrOp MAnagement eXpert system (COMAX), which was used across the U.S. Cotton Belt to guide on-farm cotton management in the 1980s (McKinion et al., 1989; Whisler et al., 1986).”

An expert system known as COMAX was explicitly developed for the GOSSYM model.

“In addition to plant and soil processes, an expert system known as COMAX was explicitly developed for the GOSSYM model (Hodges et al., 1998; Lemmon, 1986; McKinion et al., 1989).”

There are notable examples of successful interactions between scientists and farmers, including GOSSYM-COMAX, APSIM in FARMSCAPE, and OZCOT within HydroLOGIC.

“Notable examples of successful interactions between scientists and farmers include the early efforts to use GOSSYM-COMAX for on-farm cotton management (McKinion et al., 1989); the use of APSIM in the FARMSCAPE initiative to examine the benefits of science-based soil sampling, climate forecasting, and simulation modeling applied to on-farm decision support (Carberry et al., 2002b)”