ASSESSING CROP ROTATION SUSTAINABILITY USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS

With the food security challenge faced by nations globally, agriculture sustainability has been a significant consideration for concerned agencies. Sustainability assessments are significant tools in providing support to stakeholders in their crop production planning. Agricultural sustainability assessment, however, is complex and it involves numerous criteria that can be conflicting. In this study we investigated the use Analytical Hierarchy Process, a multi-criteria decision analysis method, in assessing the sustainability of crop rotation alternatives and its applicability to address the multiple criteria of sustainability and the diverse preferences of stakeholders. The comparable results of the model with a sustainability assessment of cropping systems reported in the literature, validates AHP as an apt method for sustainability assessment of crop rotation alternatives and handling the complex criteria of sustainability and preferences of stakeholders. The model results, when well presented, can be utilized to support stakeholders in their decision making and in evaluating their crop rotation choices.