Database Application to Facilitate Equipment Cost in Agricultural Engineering Station

Abstract

A user-friendly computer program, called “DbMIS”, was designed to aid managers in storing, manipulating, retrieving, and reporting all necessary costs of farm equipment in the Agricultural Engineering Stations (AES). The program was mainly based on the relational database model, accomplished via Microsoft Access, in order to replace the core paper-based system employed in recording and keeping tractor-implement data at one of AES in Sharkia governorate as a case study. Furthermore, structured five principal queries to extract specific information from the numerous data stored in the database, eight printable reports to present the queried data, and finally graphical user interfaces to smoothly and effectively connect and control all the preceding objects. After implementing “DbMIS”, the proposed system was capable of calculation the repair and maintenance costs, operating hours, executed area, fuel costs, and oil & lubricants costs per a machine in a certain period, as well as allowed to input, update, delete, navigate, and search the reserved records. It can be concluded that decision makers of AES may utilize this demonstrated software to get answers concerning the mechanization costs over any definite period in a sub-second, supporting both decision-making process and research purposes.