Abstract
Farm schools offer a learning environment for the education of students in Agricultural Technical Programs and offer this program adopting boarding systems (“farm-boarding schools” or “FBS”). The big challenge in FBS is balancing education and production, that is, provide resources for practical classes and at the same time provide food for farm residents from a pre-defined budget by the sponsoring institution. The aim of this paper is to present a linear programming model to plan and optimize FBS production and supply. The model was applied in two FBS in Brazil. The model developed could show the complexity of the FBS system, which features a variety of productions and the interactions among them. The modeling process presented positive results from a technical and managerial point of view, including people management. The formulated model showed an optimized scenario which extended the managers’ analysis horizon and allowed safer decision making. The system’s complexity hampers dialogue between the farm-boarding school team and managers. From the modeling process and the standardization of data and generated results, there was a greater safety margin to present investment proposals and analyzes, accelerating the decision-making process, which was a positive addition to the system.
Highlights
Farm schools have been established in Brazil to offer a learning environment for the education of students in Agricultural Technical Programs which would provide them “learning to do by doing” activities (Franco, 1994)
Goffman (1974) defines a boarding school as a place of residence and work housing several individuals in a similar situation, separated from outside society for a considerable period in a relatively closed and formally ruled life. This system has prevailed for many years in Brazil in professional agricultural education, catering to low-income rural populations by providing educational opportunities, residence, meals, medical and dental care, clothing and other goods and services (Conceição, 2010)
The aim of this paper is to present a linear programming model to plan and optimize FBS production and supply
Summary
Farm schools have been established in Brazil to offer a learning environment for the education of students in Agricultural Technical Programs which would provide them “learning to do by doing” activities (Franco, 1994). Goffman (1974) defines a boarding school as a place of residence and work housing several individuals in a similar situation, separated from outside society for a considerable period in a relatively closed and formally ruled life This system has prevailed for many years in Brazil in professional agricultural education, catering to low-income rural populations by providing educational opportunities, residence, meals, medical and dental care, clothing and other goods and services (Conceição, 2010). In addition to boarding students, workers live on the farms with their families in these institutions, since these are far from major urban centers and there is limited daily transportation available The location of these farm-boarding schools restricts the purchase of goods on the market so that the farms need to be self-sufficient in food production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
