The growing population requires providing sufficient food. Potatoes play an important role not only as a raw material for industrial processing; above all, they are an important source of food that can feed the population of the world. Intensive methods of fertilization and protection against pests applied so far have been a serious hazard to the environment and people. The regulations governing the application of integrated pest management principles have been in force since the 1st of January 2014; they include a recommendation to reduce the use of mineral fertilizers and plant protection products, and to apply nonchemical and cultivation methods. The use of plant protection products is no longer an essential element in the control of pests; it constitutes a complementary element applied only when there is a risk of exceeding the thresholds of economic harmfulness. In order to reduce the number of protective treatments while protecting potato plantations against late blight, decision support systems (DSS) are increasingly applied to choose a treatment technique. Currently in Europe, about 20 different systems are used to support decision making in that regard. As a result thereof and depending on the system used, the number of protective treatments was decreased by 3 to 8. In Poland, the application of decision support systems made it possible to reduce the number of protection measures by 3 to 6 and, at the same time, the quantity of plant protection products introduced into the environment decreased 30 %. In recent years, those scientific disciplines have also changed that play a role in modern agriculture. So far, biological sciences predominated and, now, there is an increasing interest in engineering sciences, which facilitate the introduction of precision agriculture using modern techniques. The latter make it possible to reduce financial outlays, to protect the environment, to ensure food safety, and to protect natural and human resources.