INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2022 ISSN 2277-8616

Linear Programming In Agriculture Using The

Solver Tool Of Excel.
Fytilis S. Konstantinos

Abstract: Business research consists of a set of important quantitative techniques based on mathematical programming, which have been used
effectively in various management processes. Linear programming is one of the most widely used techniques in this group. For a long time, linear
programming was used for programming in agriculture and crop management. The present study uses linear programming for crop management in an
afro area in central Greece. The current situation is compared with the best solution proposed by the methodology. The solver tool of excel is used.
Constraints taken into account are fertilization, irrigation, working hours and land uses. As a result, there are savings of restrictions and a significant
increase in yields of the proposed crops.

Keywords: Linear Programming, Crop management, Agriculture, Constraints, Function, Solver, Excel .
——————————  ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION
Each producer must make the right decisions about the programming methodology, the optimal solution was proposed.
products he will produce through the crop or crops he has, the The data of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food of
method he will use, the final quantities he will produce and the Greece and from OPEKEPE (Hellenic Common Agricultural
time period in which he will produce the products. In order to Policy Payment Authority) were used to calculate the total
make these decisions, he must take into account both the yields of the crops, as well as the needs of crops for irrigation,
physical and financial constraints of his exploitation as well as fertilization and working hours (labor).
the relative uncertainty about the period ahead of him in order
to implement his decision. Uncertainty is affected by forecasts 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
of crop yields, costs, prices of each product produced as well Many studies have been performed using linear programming.
as the requirements of the factors of production in relation to The following are 3 typical examples. In their 2012 study,
their available quantities. Producers tend to rely on their Andreea, I. R., & Adrian, T. R applied an econometric model
experiences, comparisons with neighboring crops and their using linear programming to optimize profit. After the
intuition to make specific decisions [1]. Linear Programming application of the model, the profit was compared. The results
(LP) methodology is the most popular model in business showed that profits increased by 143% and costs decreased
research and management science. Its success in decision- by 81% [6]. In another study by Ward, JD et al in 2016 in North
making problems in both public and private companies as well Adelaide, Australia, linear programming was used to explore
as in organizations is due to the achievements of economists different food preferences and determine the suitability of
and mathematicians as well as to the development of urban farming. The results showed that linear programming
technology and information technology. It is now widely can be used effectively to explore optimal cultivation based on
accepted that most applications of business research models the amount of land available [7]. Otoo, J. et al., in 2015, used
to management problems are solved by linear programming the linear programming methodology in their study to present
[2]. Linear programming is used to provide the optimal or the best crop solution in the Fanteakwa area of Eastern
minimum solution to a limited problem. It deals with the Ghana. The model significantly increased crop yields, while
planning of the activities of a system in order to produce the saving available resources on capital and labor. This resulted
best result, that is, the one that among all possible alternatives in an increase in producers' profits [8].
achieves the predetermined purpose in the best way [3].
Linear programming applies solutions to theoretical 3 MATERIALS AND METHOD
computation as well. Used to model combinational problems
that at first glance do not seem to be related to linear 3.1 Study Area and data
programming [4]. The first mathematical formulation of the
problem as well as a process of solving it, the Simplex
algorithm, is due to G.B. Dantzig in 1947 [5].
In this study, 8 crops in the study area were evaluated
according to ————————————————
the current situation and through the linear

 Fytilis Konstantinos
 Department of Agricultural Economics,
 School of Agriculture, PhD student
 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
 email:[email protected]

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2022 ISSN 2277-8616

The study area is called Kraniorema and is located in Central 312 39,01647513 Coniferous forest
Figure 1: Study Area 313 8,284400354 Mixed forest
Natural
321 4,286855525 grasslands
Moors and
322 13,54404404 heathland
Sclerophyllous
323 0,54617845 vegetation
Transitional
324 27,47452544 woodland-shrub
332 0,030647687 Bare rocks
Sparsely
333 1,230000519 vegetated areas

Figure 2: CLC in study area

Greece 200 km away from Athens. It has a total area of

106,663 km2 (figure 1). According to the current situation in the
study area, 8 farms / crops are cultivated with a larger area for
the occupation of pastures (table 1). Figure 2 shows the land
uses from the Corine Land Cover 2018 and table 2 describes
the codes from CLC. As observed, most of the area is
occupied by coniferous forest and transitional forest-shrub.

Table 1: Crops in study area

Current
situation
Crops (acres)
Pastures 13.493,665
Fallow 11,881 3.2 Linear Programming Method
For a given operating condition the linear programming
model requires the following specification:
Crops for manufactured Feedingstuffs 7,008  Objective
Stable 5,584  Different branches of production and exploitation
activities, unit of measurement and requirements on
Walnuts 4,480
factors of production
 Constraints
Vineyards 0,958 The excel solver tool was used, which can solve linear
problems with many constraints.
Lentils / Beans 0,954
The mathematical expression of linear programming is
Potatoes 0,503 formulated as follows:

Maximum objective function

𝒏
Table 2: Corine land cover (CLC 2018) in study area
2
Area km ( * 10 3
𝒁 = ∑ 𝑿𝒊𝒀𝒊, 𝒊 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, … 𝒏
Codes acres) Εxplanation 𝒏 𝟏
Complex
242 0,548130054 cultivation patterns
Land principally
occupied by
Variable description:
agriculture, with Ζ: the total net returns from all the crops (tons)
significant areas of n: the number of crops
243 4,461300914 natural vegetation Xi: each crop (values of variables after use solver/acres)
Broad-leaved Yi: the net crops yield (tons)
311 7,240581473 forest
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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2022 ISSN 2277-8616

Constraints Crops for manufactured

Subject to: feedingstuffs 7,008 3,946
Fertilizers of crops: Stable 5,584 5,584
𝒏

∑ 𝑭𝒊𝑿𝒊 ≤ 𝑻𝑭 Walnuts 4,480 0,000

𝒊 𝟏

Vineyards 0,958 0,000

Where:
Fi: fertilization for each crop (units N,P,K/acre) Lentils / Beans 0,954 0,000
TF: total fertilization of all crops (units N,P,K/acre) Potatoes 0,503 8,079

Land use
𝒏 Table 4: Comparison of constraints
Current Optimal
∑ 𝑿𝒊 ≤ 𝑻𝑨 Constraints situation Solution Profit
𝒊 𝟏 Fertilizers
(Units Ν,Ρ,Κ) 420,892 420,892 0,00%
Where:
ΤΑ: total land area under cultivation of crops (acres) Figure 3: Saving constraints with the optimal solution
Crops Irrigation
Irrigation of crops (m3) 10.551,742 8.984,188 14,90%
𝒏
Labor 297,133 297,133 0,00%
∑ 𝑰𝒊𝑿𝒊 ≤ 𝑻𝑰 Land use
𝒊 𝟏 (acres) 13.525,033 13.523,155 0,10%

Where:
Ii: irrigation for each crop (m3/acre)
TI : total irrigation of all crops (m3/acre)

Labor
𝒏

∑ 𝑳𝒊𝑿𝒊 ≤ 𝑻𝑳
𝒊 𝟏
13,525.033 13,523.155
14,000.000
Where: 12,000.000 10,551.742
Li: labor for each crop 8,984.188
TL: total labor for all crops 10,000.000
8,000.000
Non – negativity
6,000.000
𝑿𝒊 ≥ 𝟎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, ….
4,000.000
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 2,000.000 420.892 297.133
After using the linear programming model, the optimal solution
0.000
suggests cultivating 5 crops instead of 8. We observe that the
Fertilizers Crops Labor Land use
cultivation of potatoes also shows a significant increase. Table
(Units Irrigation (acres)
3 presents the current situation and the optimal solution. Also,
Ν,Ρ,Κ) (m3)
use all available fertilizers and labor, with zero irrigation and
land use (table 4/figure 3). At the same time, crop yields are Current situation Optimal Solution
almost tripled according to the optimal plan (table 5/ figure 4).

Table 3: Comparison of current situation and optimal

solution Table 5: Comparison of crop yield
Optimal Crop yield Tones
Current situation Solution
Crops (acres) (acres) Current situation 8,60
Pastures 13.493,665 13.493,665 Optimal Solution 25,42
Fallow 11,881 11,881

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[9] Karloff, H. (2008). Linear programming. Springer Science

Figure 4: Graphic comparison of crop yields & Business Media.
[10] Dantzig, G. (2016). Linear programming and extensions.
Princeton university pressunder uncertainty. Annals of
Tones Operations Research, 22(1), 1-21.

30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00 25.42
10.00
5.00 8.60
0.00
Current situation Optimal Solution

The solver tool of excel is a free tool that anyone can use it. It
can accept too many constraints as it uses the Simplex
algorithm. Solves linear and non-linear problems [9]. It is
widely used for the management of crops as well as for the
management of other actors in the production sector (eg.
management of agricultural capital) [10].

5 CONCLUSION
It is understandable that linear programming methodology can
be very useful in crop management. Several studies still need
to be done to formulate an agricultural policy framework in this
direction.

Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the Ministry of Rural Development and
Food of Greece as well as OPEKEPE (Hellenic Common
Agricultural Policy Payments Authority) for the information
provided to me.

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