Optimal selection of agricultural crops for sustainable farming in nutrient-rich Wadi areas of Saudi Arabia using MCDM
Abstract
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, wheat, barley, fruits, vegetables, fruits, fodders, etc. are the most common agricultural products. Agricultural sustainability depends on socio-economic and climatic conditions. Proper crop selection is important to maximum productivity In order to rank the selected crops, the model is developed at the country level for sustainable agricultural practices. In order to make the agricultural activities sustainable the most of the important criteria are taken into account. Five criteria linked to sustainability are included in this study. The research focuses to develop the model for the sustainable agricultural practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by making use of Multi-criteria based decision-making model (MCDM). Three MCDM techniques were employed to evaluate the most suitable crop and the results are compared and validated. The results from all the three methods gave consistent results. Fruits emerged as the most productive crop, followed by wheat, vegetables, fodders, and barley. Such methodology shall be further extended across the other regions and over more variety of crops to obtain sustainable agricultural practices. The study is expected to help the Ministry of Water, Environment, and Agriculture, KSA to draft the suitable agricultural policy.
References
Agarwal, R. & Garg, P.K. 2016. Remote sensing and GIS based groundwater potential & recharge zones mapping using multi-criteria decision making technique. Water Resour. Manag., 30, 243-260.
Bailey, R. & Willoughby, R. 2013. Edible oil: food security in the Gulf. Chatham House., 1-16.
Behzadian, M., Kazemzadeh, R.B., Albadvi, A. & Aghdasi, M. 2010. PROMETHEE: A comprehensive literature review on methodologies and applications. Eur J Oper Res., 200, 198-215.
Bhangale, P.P., Agrawal, V.P. & Saha, S.K. 2004. Attribute based specification, comparison, and selection of a robot. MECH MACH THEORY., 39, 1345-1366.
Carroll, S., Liu, A., Dawes, L., Hargreaves, M. & Goonetilleke, A. 2013. Role of land use and seasonal factors in water quality degradations. Water Resour. Manag., 27, 3433-3440.
Chatterjee, P. & Chakraborty, S. 2012. Material selection using preferential ranking methods. Mater. Des., 35, 384-393.
Chitsaz, N. & Banihabib, M.E. 2015. Comparison of different multi-criteria decision-making models in prioritizing flood management alternatives. Water Resour. Manag., 29, 2503-2525.
Chu, J. & Su, Y. 2012. The application of TOPSIS method in selecting fixed seismic shelter for evacuation in cities. Syst. Eng. Procedia., 391-397.
Cocklin, C.R. 2009. Agriculture, society, and environment: discourses on sustainability. – Int J Sust Dev World. 2, 240-256.
Dağdeviren, M., Yavuz, S. & Kılınç, N. 2009. Weapon selection using the AHP and TOPSIS methods under fuzzy environment. Expert Systems with Applications, 36, 8143-8151.
Dillon, E.J., Hennessy, T.C. & Hynes, S. 2009. Towards measurement of farm sustainability-an Irish case study. International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Beijing, China, 1-21.
Doumpos, M. & Zopounidis, C. 2004. A multicriteria classification approach based on pairwise comparisons. Eur J Oper Res., 158, 378-89.
Garg, N.K. & Dadhich, S.M. 2014. Integrated non-linear model for optimal cropping pattern and irrigation scheduling under deficit irrigation. AGR WATER MANAGE., 140, 1-13.
Garg, R.K., Agrawal, V.P. & Gupta, V.K. 2007. Coding, evaluation, and selection of thermal power plants–A MADM approach. INT J ELEC POWER., 29, 657-668.
General crop pattern Saudi Arabia. 2019.
https://www.slideshare.net/WaterforLife/nonrenewable-groundwater-management-in-saudi-arabia/26-Location_of_main_consumers_Conflict. (assessed on 25.07.2019)
Geng, G. & Wardlaw, R. 2013. Application of multi-criterion decision making analysis to integrated water resources management. Water Resour. Manag., 27, 3191-3207.
Gowda, M.C. & Jayaramaiah, K.M. 1998. Comparative evaluation of rice production systems for their sustainability. Agric Ecosyst Environ., 69, 1-9.
Hamidi, N., Pezeshki, P.M. & Moradian, A. 2010. Weighting the criteria of brand selecting in beverage industries in Iran. Asian Journal of Management Research, 1, 250-267.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509509469905
Ministry of Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. 2019.
Mutikanga, H.E., Sharma, S.K. & Vairavamoorthy, K. 2011. Multi-criteria decision analysis: a strategic planning tool for water loss management. Water Resour. Manag., 25, 3947-3969.
Nambiar, K.K.M., Gupta, A.P., Fu, Q. & Li, S. 2001. Biophysical, chemical and socio-economic indicators for assessing agricultural sustainability in the Chinese coastal zone. Agric Ecosyst Environ., 87(2), 209-214.
Peacock, C. & Sherman, D.M. 2010. Sustainable goat production—Some global perspectives. Small Rumin Res., 89 (2-3), 70-80. doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2009.12.029.
Pramanik, M.K. 2016. Site suitability analysis for agricultural land use of Darjeeling district using AHP and GIS techniques. Model. Earth Syst. Environ., 2:56. 1-22.
Qureshi, M.R., Singh, R.K. & Hasan, M.A. 2018. Decision support model to select crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices using fuzzy MCDM. Environ Dev Sustain., 20(2, 641-659.
Raju, K.S. & Kumar, D.N. 1999. Multicriterion decision making in irrigation planning. Agr Syst., 62, 117-129.
Raju, K.S. & Vasan, A. 2007. Multi attribute utility theory for irrigation system evaluation. Water Resour. Manag., 21, 717-728.
Raju, K.S., Duckstein, L. & Arondel, C. 2000. Multicriterion analysis for sustainable water resources planning: a case study in Spain. Water Resour. Manag., 14, 435-456.
Rao, P.V. & Baral, S.S. 2011. Attribute based specification, comparison and selection of feed stock for anaerobic digestion using MADM approach. J. Hazard. Mater., 186 (2-3), 2009-2016.
Rao, R.V. & Patel, B.K. 2010. A subjective and objective integrated multiple attribute decision-making method for material selection. Mater. Des., 31, 4738-4747.
Roozbahani, A., Zahraie, B. & Tabesh, 2012. M. PROMETHEE with precedence order in the criteria (PPOC) as a new group decision making aid: an application in urban water supply management. Water Resour. Manag., 12, 3581-3599.
Roy, R. & Chan, N.W. 2012. An assessment of agricultural sustainability indicators in Bangladesh: review and synthesis. The Environmentalist., 32, 99-110.
Singh, R.K., Mallick, J., Hasan, M.A., Mohamed, M.H. 2019. Simulation based ranking of vegetable cash crops for sustainable greenhouse farming practices. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 17:4615–4629.
Song, J.Y. & Chung, E.S. 2016. Robustness, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of the TOPSIS method for quantitative climate change vulnerability: A case study of flood damage. Water Resour. Manag., 13, 4751-4771.
Sorensen, A.A., Van Beest, F.M. & Brook, R.K. 2015. Quantifying overlap in crop selection patterns among three sympatric ungulates in an agricultural landscape. BASIC APPL ECOL., 16, 601-609.
Srdjevic, B., Medeiros, Y.D. & Faria , A.S. 2004. An objective multi-criteria evaluation of water management scenarios. Water Resour. Manag., 18, 35-54.
Srinivas, R., Singh, A.P. & Sharma, R. 2017. A scenario based impact assessment of trace metals on ecosystem of river Ganges using multivariate analysis coupled with fuzzy decision-making approach. Water Resour. Manag., 31, 4165-4185.
Sydorovych, O. & Wossink, A. 2008. The meaning of agricultural sustainability: Evidence from a conjoint choice survey. AGR SYST., 98, 10-20.
Venkata Rao R. 2008. Evaluating flexible manufacturing systems using a combined multiple attribute decision making method. Int J Prod Res., 46(7), 1975-1989.
Warrag, E.I., Mallick, J., Singh, R.K. & Khan, R.A. 2019. Status of dieback of Juniperus Procera (African Pencil Cedar) in natural stands and plantation in Alsouda highlands, Saudi Arabia. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 17(2): 2325-2338.
Wind, Y. & Saaty, T.L. 1980. Marketing applications of the analytic hierarchy process. Management science. 26, 641-658.
Zhen, L., Routray, J.K., Zoebisch, M.A., Chen, G., Xie, G. & Cheng, S. 2005. Three dimensions of sustainability of farming practices in the North China Plain: a case study from Ningjin County of Shandong Province, PR China. Agric Ecosyst Environ., 105, 507-522.
Zhen, L., Zoebisch, M.A., Chen, G. & Feng, Z. 2006. Sustainability of farmers' soil fertility management practices: A case study in the North China Plain. J Environ Manage., 79(4), 409-419.
