Knowledge engineering approach for the analysis of viticulture

Abstract

The sustainable development of agricultural regions requires a methodical approach that will make a viable land management system policy in practice. In this regard, distinctive contextual characteristics of a country (remarkable areas for raising the regional products) could be taken into account in order to promote the good character of agricultural outputs and to increase the added value of considered lands. The manuscript primarily describes in qualitative and quantitative terms a mechanism for synthesizing information about wine production characteristics and therefore provides sufficient substantive treatment of agricultural or other system interactions. Firstly, the manuscript presents a discussion about many factors that affect wine production, and secondly, the focus is more on the development of an integrated approach using numerical and symbolic reasoning. The Geoviticulture Multicriteria Climatic Classification (MCC) System is engaged with a methodology comprising three viticultural climatic indexes of different natures: hydric type (dryness index), heliothermal type (Huglin index), and Nictothermal type (Cold Night Index). The knowledge representation is symbolized with the conceptual graphs formalism and the reasoning mechanisms are based on graph operations. A visual reasoning development focuses more on the decision process that would seem more appropriate for a practice on decision support. In addition, the Decision Support System (DSS) component is illustrated with a case study of Croatia republic in very broad characterizations of its main regional grape varieties.