The importance of crop structure optimization in agricultural management

Abstract

Mathematical programming models and especially their subclasses - linear programming models - occupy a particularly important place, both in theory and in economic practice being used in various fields. Their application in agricultural management comes as a basis for decisions on the resources allocation or the assignation of a certain crop structure in terms of efficiency aiming at the economic optimum. The crop structure can also be optimized using other specific methods, the most known being the multiple variants method and the planning program. Model setting is conditioned by the use of electronic computing because the multitude of restrictions and the complexity of mathematical relationships cannot be solved without specific programs. The solutions obtained are variants that an agricultural farmer can use to achieve the objectives of the unit, being able to immediately see the effects of potential changes in the initially introduced parameters and act accordingly. Obtaining correct results is conditioned by the prior setting of limit values (minimum outputs, minimum or maximum areas required by certain natural, economic or managerial conditions, weights associated with different crops, etc.) the correct definition of the objective function in order to insure the correctness of the mathematical relationships representing the restrictions imposed and by faithfully scrutinizing the stages specific to the scientific approach in order to achieve the objectives proposed by the agricultural holding or the area concerned. The paper analyzes the importance of using the linear programming method in agricultural management and exemplifies by presenting a model for optimizing the structure of crops in the Iasi county, highlighting the advantages and limitations of this method as well as possible future research directions.