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Multiple-Objective Decision Making for Agroecosystem Management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Tony Prato ,
Chris Fulcher ,
Shunxiang Wu  and
Jian Ma
Tony Prato
Affiliation:
Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, and professor of resource economics and management, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri
Chris Fulcher
Affiliation:
Center for Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Systems, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri
Shunxiang Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Idaho
Jian Ma
Affiliation:
Rual Policy Research Institute, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri
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Abstract

Multiple-objective decision making (MODEM) provides an effective framework for integrated resource assessment of agroecosystems. Two elements of integrated assessment are discussed and illustrated: (1) adding noneconomic objectives as constraints in an optimization problem; and (2) evaluating tradeoffs among competing objectives using the efficiency frontier for objectives. These elements are illustrated for a crop farm and watershed in northern Missouri. An interactive, spatial decision support system (ISDSS) makes the MODEM framework accessible to unsophisticated users. A conceptual ISDSS is presented that assesses the socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological consequences of alternative management plans for reducing soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution in agroecosystems. A watershed decision support system based on the ISDSS is discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , October 1996 , pp. 200 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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