Optimization model for cropping-plan placement in paddy fields considering agricultural profit and nitrogen load management in Japan

• Published in: Paddy and water environment 2012-06, Vol.10 (2), p.113-120
• Main Authors: Chono, Shunsuke, Maeda, Shigeya, Kawachi, Toshihiko, Imagawa, Chie, Buma, Natsuki, Takeuchi, Junichiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural management; Agricultural production; Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cereal crops; Crop planting; Crops; Decision making; Decision support systems; Drainage canals; Ecotoxicology; Farming; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Life Sciences; Nitrogen; Objective function; Optimization; Organizations; Placement; Policies; Rice; Rice fields; Soil Science & Conservation
• ISSN: 1611-2490; 1611-2504
• DOI: 10.1007/s10333-011-0272-4

An optimization model for cropping-plan placement on field plots is presented for supporting decision-making on agricultural management by a farming organization. The mixed 0–1 programming technique is employed to select the next planting crop at each field plot in a holistic manner. Reduction of total nitrogen discharged from field plots to the downstream end of the drainage canals is expressed as an objective function of the model to balance an achievement of economic goal and environmental conservation. Some Japanese governmental policies on regulating rice cropping areas and on promoting production of particular upland field crops can be formulated in the model. A computational example of cropping-plan placement on field plots managed under integrated policies is given by operating the optimization model with various weights associated with the objectives. The procured trade-off curve and corresponding patterns of cropping-plan could be useful in the decision-making by the farming organization.