Selection of a Wheat Harvester according to Qualitative and Quantitative Criteria

Abstract

With the development of technology and the expansion of agricultural machinery diversity, the need for an appropriate group decision-making system has arisen. The increasing number of criteria and alternatives complicates the decision-making process. Moreover, the uncertainty in the data leads to more complexity in the decision. To select a wheat combine, multiple quantitative criteria were considered, such as the grain tank, rated horsepower, speed draining, and cleaning, along with qualitative criteria, including the level of harvest or harvest losses, fuel consumption, comfort and safety, the ability to harvest wet and lying, and price. To rank seven alternatives through the MULTIMOORA (multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis) method, a group decision making model applied for qualitative criteria and the Simos method was used for weighting as a subsidiary of mental groups. The performance of the hybrid model was confirmed by experts in agricultural machinery. The consensus model, when used in the process of group decision making, reduces the conflict level of decision-makers regarding criteria, alternatives and the decision matrix. The results of this research will be beneficial for industrial agriculture, especially wheat combine buyers. The proposed explainable consensus model can be used to construct decision support systems and can be applied to various decision-making problems owing to operability and easiness.