An example of operational research applied to agriculture

Abstract

If and when there is a possibility of crop diversification, farmers face a serious problem: which crops and how much of each must be grown in order to obtain higher profit. Operational Research is one of the methodologies that may be applied to this type of problem, aiming at to find a solution for it. As this methodology is not well known by both researchers and farmers, the present paper gives a model of solution by means of Linear Programming, which is a sub-class of Operational Research, dealing with specific agricultural problems. The main purpose of this paper is to make researchers and farmers aware of this methodology as well as of the possibility of its adaptation to agriculture.