A Mathematical Programming Model for Vegetable Rotations

Rotations have historically been used to alleviate pest problems in crop production. This paper considers methods of modeling rotations in linear programming models for Southeastern vegetable production. In such models, entering each possible crop rotation as a separate activity can be burdensome because of the large numbers of possible rotational alternatives. Conventional methodology for double crop rotations reduces the number of activities but must be adapted to accommodate triple crop rotational requirements in vegetable production. This paper demonstrates these methods both for a simple example and an empirical problem with numerous rotation alternatives. While the methods presented in this paper may have computational disadvantages compared to entering each rotation as a separate activity, they do have advantages in model design and data management.