Applications of near-rings to agricultural experiments
by
Günter Pilz
Inst. Algebra, Univ. Linz, Austria
Coauthors: Gerhard Wendt

Planar near-rings give rise to Balanced Incomplete Block Designs, and theses BIB-Designs are excellent for the design of statistical experiments, in which one wants to test optimal combinations of "ingredients" to a final product. The skillful use of these experimental designs can greatly reduce the number of tests needed, which means a substantial reduction of the costs of the experiments. We describe the procedure, as well as a real-life experiment in agriculture, which was conducted in cooperation with the "Landwirtschaftskammer Oberösterreich". We also briefly discuss unexpected problems which arose in applications and which have effects on the algebraic investigations of planar near-rings.

Date received: May 16, 2008