SIMULATION OF ECOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC-FACTORS IN AGRICULTURALSYSTEMS

Historically, the motivations for decision-makers to understand the dy namics and behavior of agricultural systems were the requirements to a ssess and predict future food production and supply. More recently, ho wever, it has become evident that in addition to being units of food p roduction, agricultural systems may also either damage or provide ecol ogical goods and social welfare. Thus, the need for enhanced environme ntal protection also provides a motivation for understanding the dynam ics of farming systems. Historically, models aimed at simulating one c omponent of the farm system, be it either the food production or ecolo gical systems, have tended to ignore the social component of the farm system. This omission, which has been related partly to reductionist s cientific processes and partly to the difficulty of modeling social sy stems, is unfortunate because the responses of people to their economi c and social environment is what ultimately determines the other outpu ts of agricultural systems. In this paper, the progress made in modeli ng the individual production, ecological and social components of agri cultural systems is reviewed, and modeling frameworks for their future integration are examined.