The Use of Multi Criteria Models for Decision Support on Organic Farms

Abstract

ABSTRACT The need for reliable information in the organic farm planning process dictates the use of modern decision support methods. The methodology of an integrated deterministic simulation system application for decision-making support on organic farms is described in this article. The deterministic simulation system KARSIM 1.0 consists of 74 deterministic production simulation models that enable different types of costs and financial feasibility calculations for organic production and food processing. The KARSIM 1.0 was applied on a sample organic farm for the simulation of five different business alternatives. The simulation model results are further evaluated with two multi-objective analysis methods: analytical hierarchical process (Expert Choice Decision Support System software) and DEX-i expert system (computer software for multi attribute decision making). Alternative 3 (spelt grain processing) results with the highest multi-objective decision evaluation (Expert Choice = 0.275 and DEX-i evaluation = very good). The combination of deterministic cost simulation model and multi criteria decision analysis with the emphasis on financial, technological, market and risk objective presents a powerful decision support tool for organic farms, however, further improvement and development of proposed methodology would be suggested.