DECISION SUPPORT FOR MANURE MANAGEMENT AT FARM AND COMMUNA LEVEL

This paper was accomplished in the framework of LIFE09 ENV/RO/000612 - CLEANWATER project, co-financed by the European Community Commission, having as main objective the accomplishment at Barlad basin level, of a decision support for the involvement of farmers in sustainable manure management in order to make them sensitive to the issues related to the nitrates pollution within the basin, having as consequence the decrease of potable water source. The Barlad River basin (area of 7220 km(2), mean altitude 211 m) is situated in the southeast part of the Romania country and has more than 37% of the total surface designated as vulnerable zone to nitrate pollution due to a great number of agricultural sources. Manure can be a serious problem when it is not managed correctly. Competent management of manure involves planning, defining the problem and the actions being undertaken to solve the problem. The aim of this work was to present the computer-aided-Decision-Support for Manure Management (DSMM) at farm and "comuna" level, created in the framework of the project CLEANWATER, in order to encourage the farmers for participate in the manure management, focusing on the information about the spread of manure on the arable land and the application of a good manure management within the farms. The Decision Support is an important tool for farmers, its structure allowing each farmer to evaluate the characteristics of the farm, to define precisely the situation that is found, what actions needs to do in order to improve the work and therefore would be prioritized in decision making.