Handbook of Operations Research in Agriculture and the Agri-Food Industry

469 Pages·2015·8.71 MB·English

by  Lluis M. Plà-Aragonés

International Series in
Operations Research & Management Science
Lluis M. Plà-Aragonés Editor
Handbook of
Operations Research
in Agriculture and the
Agri-Food Industry
International Series in Operations Research
& Management Science
Volume 224
Series Editor
Camille C. Price
Stephen F. Austin State University, TX, USA
Associate Series Editor
Joe Zhu
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA, USA
Founding Series Editor
Frederick S. Hillier
Stanford University, CA, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6161

(cid:1)
Lluis M. Pla-Aragone´s
Editor
Handbook of Operations
Research in Agriculture
and the Agri-Food Industry
Editor
LluisM.Pl(cid:1)a-Aragone´s
DepartmentofMathematicsFaculty
ofLawandEconomics
UniversityofLleida
Lleida,Spain
ISSN0884-8289 ISSN2214-7934 (electronic)
InternationalSeriesinOperationsResearch&ManagementScience
ISBN978-1-4939-2482-0 ISBN978-1-4939-2483-7 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-1-4939-2483-7
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015935569
SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon
©SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2015
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Foreword
TheuseofORinNaturalResourceshasbeenwithusforseveraldecadesnow.Ithas
been developed importantly in the areas of forestry, agriculture, and mining. The
paperspublishedintheliteratureshowresultsthatgofrommethodologicaldevel-
opmentstocasestudiestoactualapplicationsusedinindustryorgovernment.One
area where OR has shown particular success has been in forestry. This has been
driveninlargepartbythefactthatforestlandsandfirmsarequitelargeinbotharea
andfinancialresources.Thus,thereisthepossibilityandincentivetoinvestinusing
sophisticatedtoolsformanagement.Weseeinthisspecialissuethefruitsofsimilar
developmentsmainlyintheareaofagriculture.ThisissobecauseAgricultureand
the Agri-Food Industry are becoming capital intensive and a more complex busi-
nessthantraditionallywas.Theacademicandpracticaluseofquantitativetoolsto
supportdecisionmakinginagricultureisshowninitsmanyfacets.Thepapersand
theproblemsinthemrepresentthetypicalchallengesmanagersface:
– Planningofplantingandharvesting.
– Productionandlogistics.
– Optimizingthesupplychain.
– Risksofcatastrophicevents.
– Hierarchicalplanning.
– Multiobjectivedecisionmaking.
These are areas where it is well known that Operations Research has proven
its high value, with its tools to solve problems, and perhaps more importantly,
inthewayithelps,definestheissues,andcharacterizestheproblemstobesolved.
TheuseofORtoolshasbecomemoreimportantgiventheincreasedspecialization
of the sector, higher competition in a globalized world, need to produce and
distribute in an efficient way, and the huge improvement in software and
hardwarepossibilities.Additionalchallengesimposedbyenvironmentalconstraints,
v
vi Foreword
sustainabledevelopment,andhealthier,safeandsecureproductsaddtotheneedof
sophisticateddecisionmaking.Thefieldofquantitativedecisionmakinginagricul-
ture (and in lesser volume other areas) is significantly enriched by this special
Handbook.
SantiagodeChile,Chile AndresWeintraub
Preface
Many real-world decision-making situations arise from agriculture and related
agri-food industries such as fisheries, water management, and irrigation. Methods
andapplicationsinAgricultureandtheAgri-FoodIndustryareofinterestatpresent
in research developments related to the globally critical area of food production,
animalwelfare,andsustainabilityanditisexpectedtoincreaseinthefuture.Many
treatmentsofthissubjectfailtodescribewhyandhowtheconcernedORmethods
workeffectivelyinthecontextofpractice.Thescopeofthisbookistoprovidean
overview of Operations Research (OR) methods in agriculture and a thorough
discussion of derived applications in the agri-food industry. Of course, this pano-
ramic book does not claim to offer a detailed and exhaustive view of many OR
approaches to agriculture and the agri-food industry. We therefore sought high-
qualityworksfromleadingresearchersinthefieldthatfitwiththisgeneralscope.
As Editor, I’mquite pleased with the result, which has brought together adiverse
blend of research topics and modelling and solution approaches for different
decisionsinagricultureorintheagri-foodindustry.
Structure of the Book
This book represents a set of stand-alone works that introduce several OR meth-
odologies and captures recent research trends in the application of OR methods
in agriculture and the agri-food industry. In this sense, the book can be read in
differentwaysdependingonthepersonalinterestofthereader,andso,thereisnota
unique recommended order for reading the different chapters. On the other hand,
I’m extremely grateful to the authors for their outstanding contributions and for
theirpatience,whichhaveledtoafinalproductthatfarexceededmyexpectations.
vii
viii Preface
Table1 Severalcharacteristicsofthechaptersofthebook
Chapter ORmethod Decisionproblem Product Level Country
1 SP Planning Pig Supplychain Spain
2 LP Planning Horticulture Supplychain USA
3 LP Planning Seedcorn Supplychain Brazil
4 LP Planning Apple Orchard Chile
5 LP Planning Sugarcane Supplychain Cuba
6 LP Planning Soil Farm Chile
7 LP Planning Fruit Supplychain Spain
8 SIM DA Fruitandvegetable Supplychain Australia
9 SIM DA Fish Fishfarming Israel
10 MHEU Planning Fish Aquaculture Spain
11 MO ALL Water Regional Africa
12 RA DA Crop Farm Netherlands
13 FOR DA Grape Farm Australia
14 DEA EA Pig Farms Spain
15 AHP Sustainability Olive Farm Spain
16 LP Location Beef Supplychain Australia
17 LP Planning Pig Farms Spain
18 LP Diet Pig Farm Canada
19 MDP Replacement Pigandcows Farm Denmark
All chapters were rigorously reviewed and I would like to thank the anonymous
reviewersfortheirqualityreviewsandresponsiveness.
It has been difficult to be consistent withthe use of the same criteria to decide
and place one chapter after the other. However, the link or connection chapter by
chapter is given sometimes by the method others by the problem or field of
application. Hence, the book starts with seven chapters presenting different plan-
ningproblemsfordifferentagriculturalproducts.Afterwards,threechaptersmak-
inguseofsimulationandmetaheuristicsfollow,beforeasetoffivechaptersdealing
with problems solved using multicriteria or multiobjective related methods are
presented. The last four chapters of the book are devoted to singular livestock
decisionproblems.
Table 1 showsdifferent characteristics of each chapter inorder to help readers
organize the reading of the book. Different dimensions are used to classify the
contentofeachchapter:
– Methodology: Most of the chapters present and develop mixed integer linear
programming models (LP) including several integer variables. The use of
commercial software to solve large LP models makes this kind of applications
very interesting for practical purpose. However, the adoption of these OR
solutions evolves little by little. The rest of the methods employed in the book
are simulation (SIM), metaheuristics (MHEU), multiobjective programming
(MO), risk analysis (RA), forecasting (FOR), data envelopment analysis
Preface ix
(DEA),multicriteriaAnalytichierarchyprocess(AHP),stochasticprogramming
(SP),andMarkovdecisionprocess(MDP).
– Decisionproblem:Planningproductionistheproblemwithmoreapplicationsin
thisbook.MostoftheseproblemsaresolvedusingLPmodels.Otherexamples
ofproblemsaredecisionanalysistoassesseitherrisksituationsorjustmanage-
mentalternatives,efficiencyanalysis,sustainability,location,thedietproblem,
andthereplacementproblem.
– Agricultural product: Agriculture produces a variety of products that most of
themarepresentedinoneormorechaptersofthisbook.Pigisthemostfrequent
product. There are also chapters dealing with fruits and vegetables, fish, seed
corn,oliveoil,beef,andhorticultureproducts.Itisworthmentioningthateven
whenthedescribedproblemsseemproduct-specific(e.g.,replacementproblem
in pigs), the method behind has a wider application to other products/species
(e.g., replacement problems in cows, sheep, or other livestock). A couple of
chaptersaredevotedtoothertopicsfocusedmoreonthemanagementofnatural
resourceslikewaterandsoilimpactingonagriculturalproduction.Achapteris
devoted to soil management or how to define plots to maximize crop yielding.
AndanotheroneisdevotedtowatermanagementinsomeregionsofAfrica.
– Level: Although several problems are formulated and solved at farm level,
applications at supply chain level are becoming more and more common.
Furthermore, water management and risk analysis in agriculture are some
agriculturalproblemsdealtatregionalornationallevelregularly.
– Country:Studiespresentedhave been developed under specific conditionsofa
countrythatmaybedifferentcountrytocountry.Thereisawiderepresentation
ofapplicationsdevelopedinEuropeandAmerica,lessinAustraliaandAfrica,
andunfortunatelynonefromAsia.
Thebookisprimarilyareferenceforresearchers,Ph.D.students,instructors,and
advanced practitioners. Depending on the technique, most chapters introduce
briefly the method employed before tackling the agricultural problem presented.
So,thebookisalsoexpectedtobeusefulandappropriateforuseasatextbookfor
certain advanced courses; and due to the interdisciplinary nature of the content,
such courses may be taught in a variety of departments including Operations
Research,Agriculture,AppliedMathematics,AgriculturalorAgronomicEngineer-
ing,andAgriculturalEconomicsorEcosystems.
Lleida,Spain LluisM.Pl(cid:1)a-Aragone´s