Systems engineering in agriculture?

Many problems of our days have become so complex, that neither a long exper ience nor a good intuition are sufficient for solving them in due time. - W hat we actually need in these cases are sophisticated methods which are sui table to support the problem solving process in a highly effective way. At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich the method of Sy stems Engineering (SE) has been taught to the students of Industrial Engine ering and Management for many years. In this context, we may think about us ing the same method for an effective and purposeful handling of complex sys tems in agriculture as well. The aims of this paper are: - Brief presentation of SE: and its characteristics. - Application of SE at an example taken from agriculture. - Encourage the discussion about the use of SE in agriculture.