GIS and multivariate analysis of farmer's spatial crop decision behaviour

Abstract

Among farmers, differences in decisions about what crops to grow can be attributed to the differences in resources, levels of knowledge, environment, approach in confronting uncertainty, and other factors. In this paper, the spatial dimension of farmer's crop decision behaviour is studied, by analysing the factors they considered important when choosing crops to cultivate. These factors are grouped into few components applying the principal component analysis (PCA) - a multivariate analysis. The result of the analysis is linked with a geographic information system (GIS) to present farmer's crop decision behaviour in a quantified and spatial form, e.g. on a map. The aims are to facilitate better understanding of such behaviour, make it more accessible and manipulable in a computer-based information system. The findings show that these objectives are achieved.