Thomas Bournaris

A DSS for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions

This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions developed in the framework of the Interreg-Archimed project entitled WaterMap (development and utilization of vulnerability maps for the monitoring and management of groundwater resources in the ARCHIMED areas). Its aim is to optimize the production plan of an agricultural region taking in account the available resources, the environmental parameters, and the vulnerability map of the region. The DSS is based on an optimization multicriteria model. The spatial integration of vulnerability maps in the DSS enables regional authorities to design policies for optimal agricultural development and groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. The DSS can further be used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders due to changes on different social, economic, and environmental parameters. In this way, they can achieve alternative production plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social, and environmental impacts of different policies. The DSS is computerized and supported by a set of relational databases. The corresponding software has been developed in a Microsoft Windows XP platform, using Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, and the LINDO library. For demonstration reasons, the paper includes an application of the DSS in a region of Northern Greece.

Impact assessment of CAP policies on social sustainability in rural areas: an application in Northern Greece

This study aims to assess the multiple impacts of the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) on social sustainability in rural areas. Social sustainability is related to social capital, social inclusion, social exclusion and social cohesion in rural economies, terms that are described in this paper and measured by relevant social indicators. A multicriteria model was formulated in order to study the social impacts of the CAP reform (“decoupling”) and Water Framework Directive. The model estimates the farmers’ utility function taking in account various conflicting criteria that can explain the farmers’ behavior (e.g. maximisation of farm income, risk minimisation, minimization of labour, etc.). The model is further used to simulate the impacts on social sustainability by estimating the social indicators mentioned above. The model is applied in a region of Northern Greece. There is a major reduction in family and external labour in the study region as a result of the implementation of EU policies. These effects cause many social problems particularly in the ageing of population because of the internal migration. There are also social problems for the seasonal workers of agricultural labour market who are mainly foreign immigrants. In addition, there are changes in the profile of gender issues since the decrease in women employment is much higher than in men. These changes have a negative effect on the social sustainability. The paper provides a future path for research taking suitable methodology and policy for social sustainability in rural areas.

European Union agricultural policy scenarios' impacts on social sustainability of agricultural holdings

This paper aims to assess the impacts of household behaviour on social sustainability by simulating agricultural policy scenarios of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). For this purpose a multicriteria model was formulated, at farm household level, in order to study the social impacts of the CAPs using different scenarios. The scenarios were chosen on the basis of the main EU policies affecting farm households, such as the alternative crops scenario, the Water Framework Directive scenario and the agrienvironmental schemes scenario. The data for this analysis resulted from the CAP-IRE project, a European FP7-funded project. The model includes a utility function with several conflicting criteria such as maximization of gross margin and risk and labour minimization. The model is further used to simulate the impacts on social sustainability by estimating main social indicators. The model is applied in two different farm types in Greece. The results show that the CAP scenarios have multiple social impacts on agricultural holdings, and particularly on the farm labour structure. These impacts have negative effect on social sustainability.

IA tools applied to impact assessment of EU policies in agriculture and environment

Demand for impact assessment (IA) tools by public administrations has increased significantly in the last decades, when the European Union has also increased its efforts to measure the impact of its agricultural and environmental policies. Different IA tools have been applied to assess EU policies in agriculture and environment, like the Common Agricultural Policy reform, decoupling, the Water Framework Directive, agri-environmental schemes, the Nitrates Directive, etc. This paper considers impact assessment tools that are commonly used in Europe and the rest of the world for carrying out assessments initiated by policymakers. The aim of the paper is to provide a review of the IA tools applied for the assessment of the EU policies in agriculture and environment, to analyse them and to classify them by different criteria according to the policy that they have been applied to and by the impacts that they have been measured. This paper reviews 116 published studies for impact assessment carried out in European countries.

Support of irrigation water use and eco-friendly decision process in agricultural production planning

Abstract In this paper a Multiple Criteria Mathematical Programming model has been developed integrating vulnerability maps; its purpose is to optimize and facilitate the decision making process relating to the problems of water management, land use and environmental protection. The model is used to support irrigation water use and eco-friendly decision processes in agricultural production planning. It has been developed in the context of the research project entitled EU Water (transnational integrated management of water resources in agriculture for European water emergency control). For accessing the vulnerability of agricultural land to water and nitrogen losses, a set of indices were utilised. It was implemented in the Sarigkiol basin in the north-eastern part of the Kozani prefecture in Northern Greece, combining different criteria to a utility function under a set of constraints concerning different categories of labour, land, available capital, etc. On the same time the model is taking into account the vulnerability maps which have been developed for the area. The aim of the study was to achieve optimum crop plans in the aforementioned area and it was further used to simulate different scenarios and policies, due to changes on different social, economic and environmental parameters (e.g. different levels of chemicals or water consumption per crop). The decision maker can get alternative production plans and agricultural land uses as well as the social, economic and environmental impact of different policies. Results show that the model can be considered as an important planning tool enabling the regional authorities to design optimal spatial development policies and protect groundwater from the excessive fertilizer and other pollution agents use.

A DSS for planning the agricultural production

In this paper, the agroPLAN decision support system (DSS) is presented; agroPLAN is a DSS for the planning of agricultural production in agricultural holdings or in agricultural areas. It is one of the main farm management applications of the agroGOV.gr portal. The utilisation of the agroPLAN DSS supports the farmer-manager in the difficult process of farm management and decision-making. In particular, agroPLAN simulates different scenarios and policies and proposes alternative production plans. It is based on a multicriteria mathematical programming model and can achieve the optimum agricultural production plan in a farm or in an agricultural area combining different criteria to a utility function under a set of constraints concerning different categories of land, labour, available capital, etc. The objective of this application is to help the farmer-user to gain control of the external environment with easy access to knowledge and information.

E-government and farm management agricultural services in Greece

The large volume of non-classified agricultural information over the internet increases the need of developing agricultural portals, where everyone involved with agriculture will be able to have access to the information easily and quickly. Portals play a key role in e-government, as they are the main access points for citizens to local, regional or national e-administration. The portals are the front office of public administration and provide tools for the formulation and submission of citizens questions and compose and present the answers as results. In this context, and because of the lack of a well organised agricultural portal in Greece, we designed and developed agroGOV, an agricultural portal for e-government and farm management. This paper presents the development tools, the structure and the content of the portal. AgroGOV also includes e-government services, applications, tools and decision support systems for farm management. Two of the main farm management applications of agroGOV portal are also presented in this paper.

Simulation of impacts of irrigated agriculture on income, employment and environment

This paper uses a multicriteria mathematical programming model to estimate the farmer’s utility function and simulate different scenarios and policies as well as to make alternative production plans. Application of this model was carried out in the irrigated region of the Xanthi Prefecture in Greece, as well as to three different farm clusters. The three farm clusters -small, medium and large sizes- were the result of a cluster analysis into a sample of farms of the region. In all these four cases, we considered three criteria for the estimation of the utility function; the maximization of total gross margin, the minimization of its variance and the minimization of labor. The estimated utility functions were used as objective functions of Linear or Quadratic (when the variance is considered) Programming models in order to find the optimum production plan of the total region and each farm size separately. These models were used to simulate the impacts on the production plan, income, employment and the environment due to a policy, which increases the price of irrigation water.

The use of policy formulation tools in the venue of policy appraisal: patterns and underlying motivations

As described in the introductory chapter, this book is concerned with the ways that actors in particular policy formulation venues gather and apply knowledge derived from using particular policy formulation tools. This chapter examines the venue of policy appraisal, which has received widespread attention from both policy formulation researchers and practitioners in the past two decades (Turnpenny et al. 2009; Adelle et al. 2012). As a formalized venue in which analysis is undertaken when formulating policy, it corresponds to the ‘InternalOfficial’ type as defined in Chapter 1. Indeed, the use of policy appraisal is often required by law: by 2008, all 31 OECD countries had either adopted, or were in the process of adopting, a formal system of policy appraisal (OECD 2009). Policy appraisal systems may in turn harness a wide range of policy formulation tools to carry out the analysis (Carley 1980; De Ridder et al. 2007; Nilsson et al. 2008). All these elements mean that the study of policy appraisal can yield revealing insights into policy formulation as a whole, since it covers, often mandatorily, the key ‘tasks’ of policy formulation noted in Chapter 1, namely: characterization of the current situation; problem conceptualization; identification of policy options; assessment of potential policy options and recommending and/or proposing a specific policy design. This chapter uses policy appraisal as a window into policy formulation activities as a whole.

Educational needs and perceptions of the sustainability of precision agriculture: survey evidence from Greece

Precision agriculture (PA) constitutes a dynamic production method which is gaining attention in several parts of the world. Its environmental and economic sustainability has been examined in terms of its ability to reduce the adverse effects of agrochemical use—by regulating their application to the levels needed at the land parcel level—and of its contribution to higher incomes and profitability. At the social level, PA has been linked to collective action although little insight is available regarding the role of various actors and education. This study tackles PA through an assessment of the attitudes of farmers towards the elements of its sustainability and of their educational needs. The analysis of survey data of a sample of young farmers in Greece showed that the majority of respondents were not familiar with PA. Significant differences were found between the attitudes of knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable farmers, the former demonstrating better acknowledgement of the environmental, economic and social sustainability of PA. Important educational needs were also detected, with group and individual methods being the most preferred ones for education and information campaigns. The results of the analysis could be of use for the design of Common Agricultural Policy Pillar II measures for the promotion of PA targeting to specific audiences and actors.