A new bi-level mathematical model for government-farmer interaction regarding food security and environmental damages of pesticides and fertilizers: Case study of rice supply chain in Iran

• Published in: Computers and electronics in agriculture Vol. 219; p. 108771
• Main Authors: Jalal Kazemi, Mohammad, Samouei, Parvaneh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Agricultural supply chain; Bilevel optimization; Economic and environmental objectives; Government-Farmer confrontation; Multiple cropping; Government-Farmer confrontation; Bilevel optimization; Multiple cropping; Economic and environmental objectives; Agricultural supply chain
• ISSN: 0168-1699; 1872-7107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compag.2024.108771

•Presenting a new bi-level mathematical model for government-farmer interaction.•Attention to food security and environmental damages of pesticides and fertilizers.•Using different sensitivity analysis for a case study of rice in Iran. As an important crop, rural farmers mainly plant rice on small agricultural lands. The rice supply chain provides specific features in Agricultural Supply Chain due to high demand, product diversity, and wide production area. Therefore, it is one of the most significant policymaking challenges to make a balance between the demand of different members and stakeholders of the rice supply chain. The extant study presents a completely new mathematical bilevel model that government exists at its upper level, and wants to minimize the environmental damages of pesticides and fertilizers. Agriculture guilds are at the low level and aim to maximize production through multiple cropping to increase revenue. In addition to damages from pesticides and fertilizers, price, demand, permissible cultivation area, guaranteed purchase of government, and direct sales of farmers have also been mentioned in this case. The higher number of crops and more use of pesticides and fertilizers would lead to soil erosion and jeopardize people’s food security in the long term. Moreover, governments are responsible to meet the market rice need, which is a consumable product. The proposed model has been analyzed and evaluated by a real sample in Iran, which comprises 6 main rice producers and 32 provinces. The results indicate that a 50% rise in the price of pesticides and fertilizers and a 30% reduction in permissible cultivation area cause 8.9% damage to the environment. Furthermore, a 50% increase in rice demand led to a 27% rise in government purchases from farmers.