Environmental approach to determining optimal cropping pattern

In a majority of agricultural economics analyses, farmers’ economic welfare is highlighted while the environmental issues are largely ignored. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the optimal cropping pattern through an environmental approach in a case study in Kazeroun County, Fars, Iran. Data was collected from production costs statistics provided by the Statistics and Information Technology Bureau of Agriculture-Jahad Organization. The optimal cropping pattern was determined through the goal programming model with four goals of maximizing farmers’ net return, minimizing the amount of used water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides under three scenarios. The results indicated that the third scenario which involved the environmental goals specified by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s 5th Development Plan, was the optimal one. In this scenario, the use of water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides decreased by 4.4%, 4.72%, and 8.33% respectively while the net return increased by 10%. According to the results of the study, it is possible to increase the profit and productivity of resources with regard to environmental issues.