Synergistic effect in the management of agricultural production

Abstract

Generally, when a certain type of agricultural production is optimized, an interaction is said to exist between two factors when the response (the yield of agricultural production) at the different levels of one factor is affected by the level of the other factor present. Thus, the combined effect of the two factors is not simply the sum of their separate effects, but either more than this sum (synergistic interaction) or less than this sum (antagonistic interaction). A 3 factor interaction between the factor f1, f2, and f3 occurs when the nature of the interaction between f1 and f2 is different at the various levels of f3. Higher order interactions can be similarly defined but these become increasingly more difficult to interpret. A disadvantage of this approach is that it explores each of the agricultural sub-process unrelated to the follow-up sub-process (e.g., this approach optimizes the process of fertilization without links to the crops distribution process and unrelated to the price optimization). This is because each sub-process has a different response unit that is the subject of optimization. Therefore, it is appropriate to investigate the interaction of agricultural production in its integrated form, through a universal response of variables (e.g., in the form of utility from the response). This new approach is introduced in the paper. Thus, the objective of the paper is to present a new method for the formal determination of synergistic effects of the agricultural enterprises management.

Keywords

• antagonistic effects
• food production
• input output model
• interaction