Optimal Planning for Sustainable Production of Avocado in Mexico

The global avocado market has increased significantly in recent years. The state of Michoacán in Mexico is one of the largest producers of avocado in the world. The ideal climatic conditions and favorable yields have spurred an interest in growing new orchards for enhancing avocado production. Such growth has a major impact on the environment due to the land use change and the substantial use of fresh water. Therefore, there is a need for an optimal strategic planning for the avocado production while accounting for the sustainable use of the available resources. This paper presents an optimization model for the optimal strategic planning of avocado production to satisfy the current and future demands while simultaneously accounting for the environmental impact (caused by land and water use) and economic factors. The proposed model is based on a new mathematical programming formulation. The results show that with proper planning, it is possible to satisfy the future demands for avocado while protecting the environment and achieving economic gains.

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