Digital Decision Support Systems for Sustainable Organic Farming

Authors

  • Rodrigues Luiz Henrique A Universidade Estashual de Campinas, Brazil
  • Zimmermann Fabio

Keywords:

Organic Agriculture, Linear Programming, Farm Planning. Scheduling

Abstract

Environmental concerns have gained growing attention since the late 20th century. Many of today’s challenges related to climate, soil, and water are rooted in previous agricultural policies. As a result, environmental protection has become a key priority, with farmers now bearing more responsibility for sustainability than ever before. Organic farming has emerged as a viable alternative, as it minimizes environmental harm. However, in the context of a global economy, maintaining competitiveness and ensuring efficient production remains essential. This efficiency can be achieved through the development of an optimal production plan. This paper explores an integrated decision support system designed for organic farms. The authors initially developed the system with a Linear Programming (LP) model that simulates the organic farm environment and optimises production. The model also generates an optimal schedule for key farming activities throughout the year, taking into account both farm-specific conditions and market needs. Today, a variety of more advanced solutions are available. These decision support systems help in planning effective farm management strategies and allow users to assess the potential impact of proposed changes on the entire farming system.

Author Biographies

  • Rodrigues Luiz Henrique A, Universidade Estashual de Campinas, Brazil
    Luiz Henrique A Rodrigues Professor, PhD, Facultade de Engendara Agricola FEAGRI, Universidade Estashual de Campinas -UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.  Has numerous published papers, conference presentations and monographs. Developed a few Informatics based tools for agricultural sector.
  • Zimmermann Fabio
    Fabio Zimmermann is Agricultural Engineer, He graduated in 1996 from School of Agricultural Engineering, UNICAMP Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas - SP, , Brazil  FEAGRI /UNICAMP, Brazil. . Has numerous published papers, conference presentations and monographs. Developed a few Informatics based tools for agricultural sector.

References

Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J M (1995). Interactions between Operational Research and Environmental Management. European Journal of Operations Research 85, p.229-243, 1995.

Chau, K V (1992). Modified atmosphere packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables. Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department - University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, 12 pages.

Ehler, E (1989). Agricultura Sustentável. Editora Livros da Terra. São Paulo, 1996. Harsh, S.B., Lloyd, J.W. E Borton, L.R. 1989. Models as an aid to decision making. Acta Horticulturae, 203: 51-58.

Hillier FS and Lieberman GJ (1995). Introduction to Operations Research. MeGraw Hill, New York, 1995.

Ikerd J E (1993). The need for a systems approach to sustainable agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 46, p.147-160, 1993.

Kader A A (1992). Post harvest technology of horticultural crops. 2nd edition. University of California. Publication 3311, 269 pages.

Punantapong B (2016). Evaluation models for decision support in the context of organic farming system. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 11, 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aaspro.2016.12.006

Simons R (1994). Why Mathematical Programming is really useful. OR Newsletter. September, p.20-21, 1994.

Wolf A J and Robertson G P (2024). Improving decision support tools for quantifying GHG emissions from organic production systems. Organic Agriculture, 14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-024-00466-5

Zimmermann F (1996). Programação Matemática Aplicada à Agricultura Sustentável. Relatório final da disciplina de graduação Estágio Supervisionado (FEAGRI-Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola, UNICAMP), Campinas.

Downloads

Published

2025-06-04

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2025): Agricultural Informatics

Section

Articles

License

Submission of a manuscript to IS indicates that the work is original, has not been previously published (except as an abstract, lecture, or thesis), and is not under consideration by another journal. By submitting, authors affirm that their manuscript meets the journal’s ethical and editorial standards and that they agree to the terms of copyright and licensing upon acceptance.

Once accepted for publication, authors grant IS the first publication rights to the work. However, authors retain full copyright of their content and remain the legal owners of their intellectual property.

IS provides open access to all published articles six months after the release of the respective volume. Once the embargo period concludes, articles are made freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license allows users to share, adapt, and reuse the work in any medium or format provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the initial publication in this journal.

The journal's delayed open access model supports global knowledge dissemination, ensuring that research is accessible without financial or legal barriers. Authors are also encouraged to archive their published articles in institutional repositories, personal websites, or other platforms, with full citation of the journal version. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in IS as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.

All materials published in the IS website are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, unless otherwise noted.