A methodology to assess the current situation in irrigated agriculture: An application to the village of Tauste (Spain)

Abstract This paper presents a simple weighted goal programming model which can be used to predict the current allocation of agricultural enterprises in a particular geographical area. Moreover, it also shows how the approach proposed can be integrated into a multiobjective framework to measure the opportunity cost of maintaining the current situation in terms of several criteria relevant from a private and a public perspective. In this way, the opportunity cost of sustaining the current allocation of agricultural enterprises in the irrigated lands of Tauste (Spain) is assessed in terms of gross margin, employment, seasonal labour and water consumption.