A linear optimization approach for increasing sustainability in vegetable crop production

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with a set of optimization problems associated to crop rotation scheduling in the context of vegetable crop production according to some ecological criteria: no crop of the same botanic family is planted in sequence, green manure and fallow periods must be present in any schedule. A core mathematical model called the crop rotation scheduling model is proposed to represent these ecological criteria together with specific technical constraints associated to the growing of vegetable crops. Three optimization problems based on crop rotation schedules are written in detail in this chapter. For each problem, the authors present a general modeling framework and a solution ..