In 1987, officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and land reclamation, recognized expert systems as an appropriate technology for speeding development in the agricultural sector. To realize this technology, in 1989, the ministry initiated the Expert Systems for Improved Crop Management Project (ESICM) in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).The project began in mid 1989 and CLAES joined the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in 1991. Through the development, implementation and evaluation of knowledge based decision support systems, the Central Laboratory for Agricultural expert Systems is helping farmers through out Egypt optimize the use of resources and maximize food production