Aims and ScopeOptimization has been expanding in all directions at an astonishing rate during the last few decades. New algorithmic and theoretical techniques have been developed, the diffusion into other disciplines has proceeded at a rapid pace, and our knowledge of all aspects of the field has grown even more profound. At the same time, one of the most striking trends in optimization is the constantly increasing emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Optimization has been a basic tool in all areas of applied mathematics, engineering, medicine, economics and other sciences.The Springer Optimization and Its Applications series publishes undergraduate and graduate textbooks, monographs and state-of-the-art expository works that focus on algorithms for solving optimization problems and also study applications involving such problems. Some of the topics covered include nonlinear optimization (convex and nonconvex), network flow problems, stochastic optimization, optimal control, discrete optimization, multiobjective programming, description of software packages, approximation techniques and heuristic approaches. VOLUME 34 . This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.Printed on acid-free paper PrefaceData mining is the process of finding useful patterns or correlations among data. These patterns, associations, or relationships between data can provide information about a specific problem being studied, and information can then be used for improving the knowledge on the problem. Data mining techniques are widely used in various sectors of the economy. Initially they were used by large companies to analyze consumer data from different perspectives. Data was then analyzed and useful information was extracted with the goal of increasing profitability. The idea of using information hidden in relationships among data inspired researchers in agricultural fields to apply these techniques for predicting future trends of agricultural processes. For example, data collected during wine fermentation can be used to predict the outcome of the fermentation while still in the early days of this process. In the same way, soil water parameters for a certain soil type can be estimated knowing the behavior of similar soil types.The principles used by some data mining techniques are not new. In ancient Rome, the famous orator Cicero used to say pares cum paribus facill...

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In this survey we present some of the most used data mining techniques in the field of agriculture. Some of these techniques, such as the k-means, the k nearest neighbor, artificial neural networks and support vector machines, are discussed and an application in agriculture for each of these techniques is presented. Data mining in agriculture is a relatively novel research field. It is our opinion that efficient techniques can be developed and tailored for solving complex agricultural problems using data mining. At the end of this survey we provide recommendations for future research directions in agriculture-related fields.

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