Agricultural Sector Programming Models: A Review of Alternative Approaches

As part of IIASA's Food and Agricultural Program, the research project "Limits and Consequences of Food production Technologies" addresses the question of "what long-term technical development paths are feasible and likely for increasing food production, based on the present availability of resources (including energy), the long-run feedback on the environment, and the short-run pressures reflected in current agricultural policies" (see IIASA, Research Plan 1980-1984). It is aimed at developing models that (a) describe the interactions between resources, technologies and environment in agricultural production systems and (b) provide means for the determination of policies that help countries to cope with the rising demand for food. The paper discusses various alternative approaches based on programming models. It emphasizes the organizational aspect of the problem which is typical for agricultural production systems in both market economies and centrally planned economies. The models are basically two-level decision systems where the policy bodies influence agricultural production by formulating guidelines (prices, quotas, etc.) that allow the individual production units some flexibility in the determination of their production activities