A multicriteria model for planning agricultural regions within a context of groundwater rational management.

Current international research focuses on topics like sustainable development, regional planning, environmental decision making and implementation, biodiversity conservation plus a number of other relevant issues, especially at times of economic crisis as today. Economic growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand, provided that decision makers develop and use tools and insights targeting in the implementation of successful and robust long term policies. This paper was developed in the framework of a European research project and implements a Multicriteria Mathematical Programming model that optimises the sustainable management of agricultural regions taking in account the available resources (land, labour, capital) and environmental parameters (agrochemicals, water consumption). The model achieves the optimum farm plan in the area combining different criteria to a utility function under a set of constraints and the spatial integration of the vulnerability maps of the regions into the model enables the regional authorities to design policies for the optimal agricultural development and the groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. Furthermore, the model is used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders, due to changes on different social, economic and environmental parameters. In this way the decision makers can achieve alternative farm plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social and environmental impacts of different policies. The model has been applied to an agricultural region in Northern Greece and proved to be a valuable tool in the implementation of environmental policies and actions, especially in agricultural regions in a delicate balance as the study area.

[1]  Alexander Schrijver,et al.  Handbook of Critical Issues in Goal Programming , 1992 .

[2]  José A. Gómez-Limón,et al.  How decoupling could mean dismantling of the cotton sector in Spain , 2006 .

[3]  J. A. Gómez-Limón,et al.  Identification of Public Objectives Related to Agricultural Sector Support , 2004 .

[4]  Konstantinos Voudouris,et al.  DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF VULNERABILITY MAPS FOR THE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES IN THE ARCHIMED AREAS: PRESENTATION OF AN INTERREG III B PROJECT , 2007 .

[5]  Fabio Bartolini,et al.  The impact of water and agriculture policy scenarios on irrigated farming systems in Italy: An analysis based on farm level multi-attribute linear programming models , 2007 .

[6]  A. Panagopoulos,et al.  NITRATE POLLUTION IN THE COASTAL AQUIFER SYSTEM OF THE KORINTHOS PREFECTURE (GREECE) , 2004 .

[7]  Sushil Pandey,et al.  Farm Planning under Uncertainty: A Review of Alternative Programming Models , 1991 .

[8]  Davide Viaggi,et al.  The Potential Impact of Markets for Irrigation Water in Italy and Spain: A Comparison of Two Study Areas , 2006 .

[9]  H. Pastijn.  Handbook of critical issues in goal programming: Carlos Romero Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1990, xi + 124 pages, £25.00, ISBN 008 0406610 , 1992 .

[10]  B Manos,et al.  A Decision Support System Approach for Rivers Monitoring and Sustainable Management , 2004, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[11]  Jason Papathanasiou,et al.  A DSS for Agricultural Land Use, Water Management and Environmental Protection , 2007 .

[12]  Julio Berbel,et al.  Risk programming in agricultural systems: A multiple criteria analysis , 1993 .

[13]  J. Berbel,et al.  Conflicting Implementation of Agricultural and Water Policies in Irrigated Areas in the EU , 2002 .

[14]  José A. Gómez-Limón,et al.  Irrigation water pricing: differential impacts on irrigated farms , 2004 .

[15]  M. Rizov.  Rural development and welfare implications of CAP reforms , 2004 .

[16]  G. Bazzanib,et al.  Water framework directive: exploring policy design issues for irrigated systems in Italy , 2005 .

[17]  T. Al-Zabet,et al.  Evaluation of aquifer vulnerability to contamination potential using the DRASTIC method , 2002 .

[18]  Jason Papathanasiou,et al.  Fertilizer price policy, the environment and farms behavior , 2007 .

[19]  Konstantinos Voudouris,et al.  Assessing groundwater pollution risk in Sarigkiol basin, NW Greece , 2009 .

[20]  Basil D. Manos,et al.  An integrated system for water resources monitoring, economic evaluation and management , 2005, Oper. Res..

[21]  L. Aller,et al.  Drastic: A Standardized System to Evaluate Groundwater Pollution Potential using Hydrogeologic Setting , 1987 .

[22]  Carlos Romero,et al.  On farmers' objectives: A multi-criteria approach , 1997 .

[23]  Fabio Bartolini,et al.  Implementing the Water Framework Directive: Contract Design and the Cost of Measures to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution from Agriculture , 2007, Environmental management.

[24]  D. Viaggi,et al.  Estimating demand for irrigation water in European Mediterranean countries through MCDM models. , 2009 .

[25]  Jason Papathanasiou,et al.  Regional Impact of Irrigation Water Pricing in Greece under Alternative Scenarios of European Policy: A Multicriteria Analysis , 2006 .

[26]  Jason Papathanasiou,et al.  A DSS for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions , 2010, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[27]  José A. Gómez-Limón,et al.  The impact of water-pricing policy in Spain: an analysis of three irrigated areas , 2000 .

[28]  C. Romero,et al.  A Non-interactive Methodology to Assess Farmers' Utility Functions: An Application to Large Farms in Andalusia, Spain , 1998 .

[29]  Jason Papathanasiou,et al.  Evaluation of tobacco cultivation alternatives under the EU common agricultural policy (CAP) , 2009 .