The Application of Uncertainty Theory in Optimization of Cropping Pattern in Sari Goharbaran

Selection of suitable crops for cultivation in an uncertain environment is considered as an important management topic in the agricultural sector. When faced with uncertainty, the only solution is to use subjective judgmental of persons in domain field rather than historical data. Based on the provided evidence, the quantification of subjective judgmental in the framework of probability theory and risk programming is not true and should be carried out in another theory called the uncertainty theory and uncertain programming method. With perception these conditions and considering that the agricultural sector is always faced with uncertain variables such as price of crops and weather conditions such as rainfall, in this study the optimal cropping pattern of in Goharbaran region of Sari was determined using uncertain programming in terms of uncertainty in rainfall and crops price. To elicitation the uncertainty distribution of these variables based on the subjective judgments of the farmers, 42 farmers were questioned randomly through cluster sampling in 2017. Subsequently, by calculating a causal relationship between rainfall and crops yield, uncertainty distribution of yield was also extracted and thus expected profit were calculated based on uncertainty theory. In order to calculate and minimize the uncertainty of the model, a Tail Value at Risk index was used. The results showed farmers that predict much uncertainty for prices and rainfall, it is advisable to growth the Tarom rice and tomatoes and to prevent Shiroodi rice and watermelon in order to deal with uncertainty and achieve a certain expected profit.