A mathematical programming model to consider alternative crops

Japan’s increased import of grain in the last decades has brought about the need for Japanese farmers to convert from rice production to other crops in which they are inexperienced. This paper presents a model and analyses to find effective means for inducing the farmers to convert in an acceptable way. The model is composed of several subproblems to represent different interest groups. The farmer’s subproblems are to maximize their revenues whereas the government subproblem is to save expenditure in attaining the conversion. These subproblems are coordinated from a holistic point of view by a coordination subproblem of goal programming on equity among farms and on the soundness of government budget. Part of computation was carried out interactively with the participation of experts.