Development of a planning support system for goal formulation related to land and water resources in the Borkhar district, Iran
PhD project
| Graduate student | Farhang Sargordi |
| Promotors | Herman van Keulen (WUR) |
| Co-promotors | Ali Sharifi |
| Partner | Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran & Iranian Agricultural Planning and Economic Research Institute (APERI) & Esfahan Agricultural Jihad Organization, Iran |
| Timeline | September 2004 - September 2008 |
| Sources of funding | Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of Iran |
This study is part of a research program aiming at design, development and evaluation of a Spatial Planning Support System for Food Security and Agricultural Development. It is aiming at assessing the potential capacity (biophysical) of land and water resources in order to formulate goals of agricultural development in the Borkhar plain in Iran. In this context a planning support system will be developed and evaluated to allow exploration of the technical feasibilities, the trade-offs between food production and other government objectives and identification of major constraints for agricultural development and food security. It provides facilities to explore possibilities and window of opportunities to realize food security and associated objectives in land use planning at regional level.
The research methodology for goal formulation will follow that of explorative land use analysis studies, which consists of development of a Multiple Goal Linear Programming model supported by proper achievement functions for regional analysis. At the basis of the multiple goal linear programming methodology are quantitative descriptions of 'all' possible agricultural activities in the study area. These input-output tables consist of technical coefficients, describing in quantitative terms the demands of the activities on the natural resources, their contribution to all possible objectives and their externalities in terms of environmental impacts.
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| Borkhar district, Iran |