Modeling Regional Agricultural Systems: Proceedings of the International Seminar on "Results of the Development of Mathematical Models for Regional Systems of Farm Management"

A part of the research activities of the Food and Agriculture Program at IIASA focused on the investigations of alternative paths of technological transformation in agriculture in the context of resource limitations and long-term environmental consequences. The purpose was to develop general approach and methodology through work at IIASA and in several case studies at the regional level in different countries with the help of collaborating institutions. The case studies help not only to validate the general methodology but also to develop an analytical tool for detailed investigations for a particular region which could then be applied to other regions. Moreover, these case studies addressed certain specific questions which permit a comparative analysis. The case study of the Stavropol region of the USSR was a major study in this effort involving many institutions in the USSR and was strongly supported at the highest level by the V.I. Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the USSR. In the course of this case study an international seminar was held on "Results of the Development of Mathematical Models for Regional Systems of Farm Management" at Stavropol on August 9-12, 1982. The seminar was organized jointly by the USSR Academy of Sciences, the V.I. Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and the Stavropol Research Institute of Agriculture. This volume contains some of the papers presented at the seminar