East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
ARTICLE  
ARTICLE INFO  
Volume 7(1), 2026  
Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multi-objective  
Optimization Method for Determination of  
ARTICLE HISTORY  
Received: 03 March, 2026  
Accepted: 04 June June, 2026  
Published Online: 10 June, 2025  
Optimal Cropping Pattern  
Habtamu Tsegaye Teferi 1,∗  
CITATION  
Teferi H.T (2026). Intuitionistic Fuzzy  
Multi-objective Optimization Method for  
Determination of Optimal Cropping  
Pattern. East African Journal of  
1 Department of Mathematics, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Wolkite University, Ethiopia  
Corresponding author: hbtmtsgy@gmail.com  
Biophysical and Computational  
Sciences Volume 7(1), 2026. .https://dx.  
Abstract  
OPEN ACCESS  
Agriculture has become a difficult occupation due to inadequate farming resources and cultivation risks.  
Thus, proficient utilization of resources alongside risk-alleviation strategies is essential aspect to realize  
sustainable farm benefits. Most of the earlier studies have reported the capability of Operations research  
in solving agricultural problems and enhancing farm productivity. However, they have not addressed  
effectively the distinctive nature of decision-makers, uncertainties, and associated risks of agriculture. This  
study mainly aims to fill these lacunae by applying an intuitionistic fuzzy optimization method to determine  
optimal cropping pattern that maximizes overall net benefits, minimizing cultivation costs and workforce  
concurrently with regard to procurable agricultural resources. For this purpose, an effective multi-objective  
optimization method is formulated, and its effectiveness is verified through proof and numerical example.  
The comparison between existing and proposed cropping patterns showed that the proposed patterns  
offer several advantages in enhancing overall agricultural benefits sustainably for farmers in the study  
area.  
This work is licensed under the Creative  
Commons open access license (CC  
BY-NC 4.0).  
East African Journal of Biophysical and  
Computational Sciences (EAJBCS) is  
already indexed on known databases  
like AJOL, DOAJ, CABI ABSTRACTS and  
FAO AGRIS.  
Keywords: Multi-objective optimization; Intuitionistic fuzzy optimization; Agricultural production  
planning; Cropping pattern.  
models to support farm activities and contribute to feeding the steadily  
growing population (Carravilla & Oliveira, 2013; Weintraub & Romero,  
1 Introduction  
Today, the burgeoning world’s population increases the demand for  
agricultural products and this in turn increasing pressure on the resources  
required for production (Wang, 2022). However, to meet the ever-escalating  
demand for nourishment, crop production must be boosted either by  
increasing land area for cultivation or by enhancing production per unit  
area of land (FAO, 2017; Mirkarimi et al., 2013). Since agricultural  
resources for farming are very limited all over the world (Guo et al., 2021),  
increasing land area for crop production regardless of limiting factors  
causes deterioration of available resources. Moreover, climate change,  
drought, political disputes, and disease are holding back agricultural  
advancement and remain key determinants of food security and poverty  
alleviation (Luo et al., 2023; Zerssa et al., 2021). Therefore, it is crucial  
to design means of efficient utilization of resources and risk alleviation  
strategies to improve the overall agricultural returns sustainably.  
2006).  
Agriculture is the primary sector of the Ethiopian economy, employing  
approximately 85% of the country’s population as workers (Zerssa et al.,  
2021). It contributes 50% of Ethiopia’s gross domestic product and earns  
over 90% of the foreign exchange (Haile & Kasa, 2015; Zerssa et al., 2021).  
The country’s goal for achieving overall economic growth mainly depends  
on the accomplishment of agriculture sector (Haile & Kasa, 2015).  
Despite the country’s vast irrigable land and water resources, farming is  
weather dependent and the production of which depends heavily on the  
availability of rainfall (Awulachew & Ayana, 2011). Consequently, most  
farmers are exposed to inconsistent rainfall patterns and weather conditions  
(Zerssa et al., 2021). Even though Ethiopia is vulnerable to the vagaries of  
natural weather conditions, it has substantial agricultural potential because  
of its vast areas of fertile land, enormous labor, abundant water resources,  
and diverse climate conditions (Awulachew & Ayana, 2011; Kelbore, 2014).  
In this regard, the decision of agricultural stakeholders has its own impact  
on the achievement of the desired objectives. Even if decision-making for  
the optimum utilization of resources is a challenging task for farmers and  
agricultural managers, it can be scientifically addressed using optimization  
Due to seasonal variation, Ethiopia has three distinct seasons: Kiremt  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
43  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
(June – September), Bega (October – January), and Belg (February – May)  
(Gebremichael et al., 2014). Kiremt is the main rainy season, accounting for  
about 90% of agricultural production, while Bega is dry and Belg is a short  
rainy season contributing the remaining 10% of production (Kelbore, 2014).  
literature is reviewed. The optimization method for addressing the practical  
problem is outlined in Section 3. A comparative analysis of the proposed  
method is presented in Section 4. Section 5 provides the model application  
in three subsections: study area description, data collection and analysis,  
and problem formulation. A detailed analysis of the results is given in  
Section 6. Section 7 summarizes the findings, discusses limitations, and  
provides recommendations for future research.  
A cropping pattern is the proportion of land area under various crops that  
changes over space and time (G. Singh, 2012). It is the annual succession of  
different crops and fallow in a particular region and can be reported at the  
farm level to address the collective issues of a farming system (Andrews &  
Kassam, 1976).  
2 Literature Review  
Agriculture is one of the fields where Operations research (OR) models were  
first employed and they have been extensively applied (Rădulescu et al.,  
2014). The capability of addressing MOO problems for decision-making  
helps out OR to play a fundamental role in agriculture (Rădulescu et al.,  
2014; Weintraub & Romero, 2006).  
The principal objective of optimal cropping pattern (OCP) is to identify  
the combination of several crops to be cultivated which maximizes the net  
return of farming by managing agricultural risks with respect to available  
resources (Ouda et al., 2017).  
Carravilla and Oliveira (2013) reviewed studies demonstrating the  
applications of OR in agriculture at farm and sector levels. Depending  
on problem complexity, some used linear programming (LP), while others  
employed multi-objective and fuzzy optimization models to address APP  
problems.  
As the population grows, agricultural resources have been decreasing  
and the situation worsens with the spread of drought (Carravilla &  
Oliveira, 2013). These circumstances continue to generate many agricultural  
inquiries in search for more productive alternatives on a given land area  
for the optimal utilization of other agricultural resources (Paudel, 2016).  
Therefore, OCP is one of the important and feasible mechanisms to increase  
productivity with other integrated scientific agricultural practices (Luo  
et al., 2023; Ouda et al., 2017).  
Weintraub and Romero (2006) demonstrated the potential of OR in the  
management of agricultural resources and forestry, and their advantages  
in simplifying DM in farming activities. In their article, the applications of  
OR in APP problems at the farm and regional levels were comprehensively  
reviewed. They address uncertainties, risks, environmental conservation,  
and discuss future research directions in these areas.  
Determining the OCP remains a complex task for farmers and managers  
(Pawar et al., 2026), as decisions on machinery selection, input use,  
operation timing, and cultivation practices must be made in each cropping  
season (Duan et al., 2021).  
Environmental, social, and economic factors make agricultural data  
inherently uncertain (Bairwa et al., 2013), leading to decision-making under  
ill-defined objectives and constraints (Li et al., 2017). Accordingly, risks in  
agriculture are better represented with fuzzy numbers than crisp values,  
prompting the development and application of fuzzy multi-objective  
optimization (FMOO) methods to handle APP problems.  
In Ethiopia, where most farmers practice traditional agriculture, these  
decisions are largely based on experience, fluctuating market prices,  
and other operational factors (Kelbore, 2014). Conversely, policies and  
guidelines delivered through extension services often fail to account for  
multiple agricultural objectives and constraints, such as weather variability  
and production risk. Therefore, more effective strategies are required  
through the use of optimization models.  
Although many researchers employed FMOO approaches to deal with APP  
problems (Amini, 2015; Biswas & Pal, 2005; Gupta et al., 2000; Mirajkar &  
Patel, 2012; Mirkarimi et al., 2013; Rasikh et al., 2024; Wang, 2022; X. Zeng  
et al., 2010) their studies were limited in scope and did not represent the  
real nature of the problems very well (Mahapatra & Roy, 2009). This  
is due to insufficient information, incomplete attributes, ill-definedness,  
uncertainties, and vagueness in every aspect of MOO problems (Sen et al.,  
2018). Consequently, different advanced generalizations are ascertained.  
From that, IFS, which is originated by Atanassov (1986), is an effective  
generalization of fuzzy sets. It has been used in a wide range of operations  
because of its ability to address uncertainties and vagueness in practical  
problems. Thus, intuitionistic fuzzy optimization (IFO) (Angelov, 1995) was  
introduced to handle different pragmatic problems.  
The problem of optimizing multiple goals simultaneously under given  
constraints is called multi-objective optimization (MOO). It involves  
concurrent optimization of incommensurate and conflicting goals subject  
to different constraints (V. Singh & Yadav, 2018).  
Many real-life problems are inherently characterized by multiple and  
conflicting goals with uncertainties (Gupta et al., 2000). So, it is difficult  
to deal with such problems using classical optimization techniques.  
Hence, intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) can be used to represent insufficient  
information, imprecise concept, uncertainties and the diverse perspectives  
of decision-makers (DMs) in a more generalized way compared to fuzzy  
sets (Roszkowska et al., 2024). Thus, intuitionistic fuzzy modelling is more  
relevant than other classical optimization methods (Pawar et al., 2026).  
IFO technique is a relatively recent research field in contrast to fuzzy  
optimization approaches (Angelov, 1995). It enhances understanding of  
the addressed problems and provides valuable insights into their nature  
(Roszkowska et al., 2024). Moreover, the output of an investigation  
employing IFO is a more valuable analytical means for researchers,  
practitioners, and experts.  
Several researchers have attempted to address agricultural production  
planning (APP) problems employing various MOO methods to recommend  
an alternative cropping system for improved outcomes (Luo et al., 2023;  
Weintraub & Romero, 2006). However, the ambiguity of the parameters  
in the problem, inconsistent natural conditions, the distinctive perspective  
of DMs, and associated operational risks in agriculture have not been well  
addressed in their studies.  
In APP problem, interactions among various natural entities and correlated  
factors complicate the management process. These factors enforce DMs to  
use advanced optimization models for proficient usage of resources and to  
gain better overall benefits.  
To overcome the above difficulties, it is imperative to formulate an effective  
optimization model and design OCP at the farm level by considering the  
available resources to assist sustainable crop production.  
This study aims to investigate the application of an intuitionistic fuzzy  
multi-objective optimization (IFMOO) model and to propose OCP for the  
study area that improves farmers’ welfare concerning scarce resources and  
reduces various challenges of farming.  
Nishad and Singh (2015) employed an intuitionistic fuzzy goal  
programming to resolve the land use planning problem. They considered  
the agricultural system undertaken by Biswas and Pal, 2005 in which several  
seasonal crops were cultivated in a year and different productive resources  
are taken into account in the model. Their study revealed that IFO method  
gives better results in all aspects compared to the results obtained by the  
fuzzy optimization method.  
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the related  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
44  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Li et al. (2017) formulated an IFMOO model that incorporates MOO,  
nonlinear programming (NLP) and intuitionistic fuzzy number (IFN) to  
deal with the uncertainties of conflicting targets in irrigated agriculture to  
support sustainable farming. They employed an IFMOO model to allocate  
limited accessible water to rice during growth stages to maximize crop yield,  
minimize utilized water and cost of water supply in Heping irrigation area  
of northeast China.  
3 IFO Method  
3.1 Preliminaries  
˜
Definition 3.1.1 (Atanassov, 1986). An IFS in the universe - is given by  
˜
= {hG, (G), (G)i:G -}, where (G), (G), (G):  
˜
˜
˜
˜
˜
- → [0, 1] such that  
0 (G) + (G) ≤ 1 and (G) = 1 − ((G) + (G)),  
˜
˜
˜
˜
˜
G  
-. The values (G), (G) and (G) describe the degree  
˜
˜
˜
Li et al. (2019) used a multi-objective NLP model in an intuitionistic fuzzy  
environment (IFE) for the management of the water-energy-food nexus in  
irrigational agriculture, considering the cropping system of the Heihe River  
basin in northwest China. In their study, both optimistic and pessimistic  
views of DMs were considered under different scenarios to maximize  
system profit and minimize carbon dioxide emissions, subject to water,  
energy, land, and other input resources for cultivating wheat, corn, and  
vegetables in the three regions of the basin.  
˜
of membership, non-membership, and indeterminacy of G being in ,  
respectively.  
˜
Definition 3.1.2 (Mahapatra & Roy, 2009). A triangular IFN is an IFS,  
represented as = h0 , 0 , 0 ; 0 , 0 , 0 i, where 0 0 0 0 030 ,  
0
0
0
˜
1
2
3
2
1
2
3
1
3
1
with  
G0  
1
G  
 
,
,
if 0 < G 0  
1
2
3
0
0  
2
1
0
3
(G) =  
if 0 G < 0  
˜
2
0
0  
2
03,  
otherwise,  
Pawar et al., 2022 applied an IFMOO method to determine the OCP of the  
Ukai irrigation area in India. Their approach combined minimizing the  
aggregated hesitation level of objectives with maximizing the minimum  
membership degree and minimizing the maximum non-membership  
and  
0
G  
2
 
,
,
if 010 < G 0  
0
2
0
0  
2
1
degree.  
This produced an OCP that maximized net returns and  
G0  
if 0 G < 00  
2
(G) =  
˜
0
2
3
employment, while minimizing farming expenditures under constraints of  
arable land and irrigation water.  
0
0  
2
13,  
otherwise.  
Li et al., 2020 developed an optimization model for sustainable irrigated  
agriculture combining IFMOO, nonlinear mixed-integer, and fuzzy  
credibility-constrained programming. Their study aimed to allocate water  
and farmland to crops across subareas and seasons to optimize net returns  
while considering socioeconomic and ecological objectives. The algorithm  
was successfully applied to crop planning in the Heping irrigation area of  
China.  
Definition 3.1.3 (S. K. Singh & Yadav, 2015a).  
0
0
˜
Let = h0 , 0 , 0 ; 0 , 0 , 0 i be a triangular IFN, the accuracy function of  
1
2
3
2
1
3
0
0
0
+0 +40 +0 +0  
3
1
2
3
1
˜
˜
˜
is denoted by Γ() and defined as Γ() =  
Accuracy function Γ is used to defuzzify IFNs.  
.
8
In handling of practical problems, vagueness and uncertainty can be  
addressed in an IFE by considering parameters as IFNs and treating  
inequality and equality as intuitionistic fuzzy inequalities and equality.  
Based on this principle, an IFMOO problem is formulated (V. Singh & Yadav,  
2018)  
Kousar et al., 2022 formulated an IFO method considering all parameters  
and variables as IFN to optimize the production of five types of fruits  
in Baluchistan region, Pakistan.Their results showed that the fully IFO  
technique has an imperative advantage to consider the fluctuating nature  
of prices and input resources more efficiently.  
e
e
f
max { 5 (-), 5 (-), ..., 5 1 (-)},  
1
2
:


e
min { 5: +1(-), 5: +2(-), ..., 5:(-)}  
1
1
L. Zeng et al. (2020) studied sustainable resource management for the  
Zhanghe Reservoir irrigation in central China using an interval stochastic  
multi-objective mixed-integer model in an IFE. Their objectives were to  
maximize crop production, hydroelectricity, and water allocation while  
optimizing cropland under constraints of water availability, crop demand,  
land policy, and electricity generation. The results demonstrated efficient  
farmland and water management to support food security and mitigate  
global warming sustainably.  
subject to  
(1)  
,e(-) - e28 , 8 = 1, 2, . . . , < ,  
,e(-) ¥ e2 , 8 = <1 + 1, <11+ 2, . . . , < ,  
8
2
8
8
,e(-) e28 , 8 = <2 + 1, <2 + 2, . . . , <,  
8
- 0,  
e
where 59(-) and ,e(-) are intuitionistic fuzzy functions, - is n-dimensional  
8
A few researchers have used IFMOO models to handle uncertainties and  
risks in APP problems. As noted above, investigators have applied various  
IFMOO techniques to suggest alternative cropping patterns for better  
outcomes. However, they have not effectively addressed differences among  
DMs, uncertainties, and risks that severely affect crop production.  
For instance, in most studies, parameters are not consistently considered  
as IFNs, constraints are not incorporated into the solution framework,  
DM preferences and stakeholder interactions are overlooked, and the  
sustainability of objectives is inadequately addressed.  
variable 9 = 1, 2, ..., : and 8 = 1, 2, ..., <.  
To reformulate problem (1) as an equivalent crisp MOO problem, each  
parameter has to be defuzzified applying the accuracy function (Rădulescu  
et al., 2014). Then, the degrees of acceptance and rejection of the objectives  
have to be described to form a single objective optimization problem.  
Accordingly, the solution of the IFMOO problem can be found by solving  
such an equivalent single objective problem (S. K. Singh & Yadav, 2015b).  
The IFMOO problem (1) can be changed into the following equivalent  
deterministic MOO problem (V. Singh & Yadav, 2018):  
To overcome these shortcomings, the present study formulates an IFMOO  
model to design an OCP that maximizes sustainable net benefits for a  
large-scale farm (LSF) and farmers in Gefersa kebele. It also aids farmers,  
development agents, and extension workers in complex decision-making  
under multiple perspectives and scenarios for a LSF in Abeshge district.  
max { 5 (-), 5 (-), ..., 5 (-)},  
1
2
:
min { 5: +1(-), 5: +2(-)1, ..., 5:(-)}  
1
1
subject to  
,8(-) ≤ 28 , 8 = 1, 2, . . . , < ,  
(2)  
, (-) ≥ 2 , 8 = <1 + 1, <11+ 2, . . . , < ,  
2
8
8
,8(-) = 28 , 8 = <2 + 1, <2 + 2, ..., <,  
- 0,  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
45  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
where 59(-) and ,8(-) are real-valued functions and 28 R,  
9 = 1, 2, ..., : and 8 = 1, 2, ..., <.  
of the maximization problem are respectively described as follows:  
0,  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
Definition 3.1.4 (Cristofari et al., 2024). Let S be the set of all feasible  
solutions of problem (2), and let -, -S. Then, -is said to be a  
Pareto optimal solution (POS) for problem (2) if and only if there does  
 
5 (-)−!  
9
9
* ( 59(-)) =  
(4)  
,
if !9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
9
* !  
1,  
9
9
not exist - S such that 59(-) ≤ 59(-), 9 = 1, 2, . . . , : , and 9 ∈  
1
{1, 2, . . . , : } such that 5 (-) < 5 (-).  
1
9
9
and  
1,  
if 59(-) ≤ !9 9  
if !9 9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
T heorem 3.1.1 (Xu & Cai, 2012; Xu & Yager, 2006).  
 
* 5 (-)  
˜
9
9
Let = (, ), 9 = 1, 2, ..., : be a collection of intuitionistic fuzzy values,  
˜
˜
9
9
* ( 59(-)) =  
,
(5)  
9
9
* −(! )  
0,  
9
9
9
and let F , F , ..., F be the corresponding weights, where F9 ∈ (0, 1) and  
1
2
:
Í
:
9=1 F9 = 1. Then, the aggregated value using the intuitionistic fuzzy  
where 9 is a tolerance value of the 9th objective and defined as 9  
(*9 ! ) and ∈ (0, 1), 9 = 1, 2, ..., : . If *9 = !9, then we define  
=
weighted geometric (IFWG) operator is given by  
1
9
* ( 59(-)) = 1.  
9
The respective exponential membership function (*( 59(-))) and  
:
:
9
Ö
Ö
IFWG (ꢁ , ꢁ , ..., ꢁ ) =  
F˜ 9 , 1 −  
(1 )  
(3)  
non-membership function (*( 59(-))) for the 9th objective respectively  
©
-
ª
®
F
9
˜
˜
˜
F
1
2
˜
:
9
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
defined as  
0, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
if !9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
3.2 The Solution Method  
 
((* 5 (-))/(* ! )) −3  
9
9
9
9
9
9
*( 59(-)) =  
(6)  
4
4  
,
Most existing studies consider the optimistic variant of the problem (Kis  
et al., 2021), paying little attention to alternative perspectives in the solution  
process. However, this consideration has its own limitations in addressing  
practical problems. Due to the inconsistent nature of human judgment,  
DMs may deviate from their initial standpoint after evaluating the obtained  
solution against the intended goals. Consequently, existing methods  
overlook this important aspect of DM judgment and insights. Therefore,  
identifying the influence of optimistic, pessimistic, and mixed perspectives  
is highly valuable for obtaining consistent and robust solutions to MOO  
problems (Chen et al., 2023; Mahajan & Gupta, 2021b). The main difference  
among these three perspectives arises from the choice of violation and  
tolerance values used to determine the non-membership degrees, while the  
membership function remains identical across all cases.  
3  
9
9
14  
1,  
and  
1, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9 9  
if !9 9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 .  
 
(( 5 (-)+! )/(* +! )) −3  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
*( 59(-)) =  
4
4  
,
3  
9
9
14  
0,  
(7)  
where, 39 is the shape parameter.  
The linear membership and non-membership functions for minimization  
objectives can be described as  
In an IFE, parameter values, aspiration levels, coefficients of the objectives  
and constraints, as well as the equalities and inequalities in the model, are  
flexible. Consequently, the maximum and minimum allowable values of the  
constraints and objectives can vary.  
1,  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
if !9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
 
* 5 (-)  
9
9
! ( 59(-)) =  
(8)  
,
9
* !  
0,  
9
9
To incorporate flexibility in the constraints, a violation parameter 8 is  
and  
associated with the 8th constraint, 8 = 1, 2, . . . , < , as specified by the DMs.  
1
For constraints of the form , the upper bound 28 is relaxed to 28 + (8) in  
0,  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
 
the solution procedure (Tsegaye et al., 2021).  
5 (-)−!  
9
9
! ( 59(-)) =  
,
if !9 < 59(-) < *9 + 9  
(9)  
9
(* +)−!  
1,  
9
9
9
if 59(-) ≥ *9 + 9 ,  
The membership and non-membership functions for each objective are  
described based on the difference between the maximum *9 and minimum  
!9 achievable goals, which are identified using a table of extreme solutions.  
Then, the tolerance variables 9 and 9 are obtained by using  
where 9 is a tolerance value of the 9th objective and defined as 9  
=
(* ! ) and ∈ (0, 1), 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :. If *9 = !9, then we  
1
1
define !9 ( 59(-)) = 1.  
9
9
The corresponding exponential non-membership function (! ( 59(-))) and  
9 = (*9 !9) and 9 = (*9 − (!9 9)) = 9(1 + ) where  
9
!9 = min{ 59(-)}, *9 = max{ 59(-)}, and ∈ (0, 1), 9 = 1, 2, ..., :.  
non-membership function (!( 59(-))) for the 9th objective respectively  
9
defined as  
The membership and non-membership functions are generally  
characterized by nonlinear behavior due to instantaneous variation at each  
solution point. Among nonlinear functions, the exponential function is  
preferable for the IFMOO problem because of its efficiency and flexibility in  
evaluating the marginal values of objectives and constraints (Ahmadini  
& Ahmad, 2021; Mahajan & Gupta, 2021a). Accordingly, exponential  
membership and non-membership functions are formulated to describe  
the optimistic, pessimistic, and mixed features and to obtain an efficient  
solution for the IFMOO problem.  
0, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
if !9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
 
(( 5 (-)−! )/(* ! )) −3  
9
9
9
9
9
9
! ( 59(-)) =  
(10)  
4
4  
,
3  
9
9
14  
1,  
and  
1, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
if !9 < 59(-) < *9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 + 9 .  
 
((* +5 (-))/(* +! )) −3  
9 9  
9
9
9
9
9
9
!( 59(-)) =  
4
4  
,
3.2.1 The optimistic approach  
3  
9
9
14  
In the optimistic approach, DM takes a liberal view of rejection (V.  
0,  
Singh et al., 2021). Therefore, the linear membership (* ( 59(-))) and  
(11)  
9
non-membership (* ( 59(-))) functions for the 9th objective function 59(-)  
Their general shape is shown in Figure 1.  
9
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
46  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
(a)  
(b)  
(a)  
(b)  
Figure 2: Exponential membership and non-membership functions for maximization  
(a) and minimization (b) objectives under a pessimistic approach.  
Figure 1: Exponential membership and non-membership functions for maximization  
(a) and minimization (b) objectives under the optimistic approach.  
3.2.2 The mixed approach  
In a mixed approach, the DM is not flexible in rejecting and is not capable  
3.2.2 The pessimistic approach  
of extra acceptance (V. Singh & Yadav, 2018). The linear non-membership  
In the pessimistic approach, the DM is presumably extra cautious about  
function * ( 59(-))) of the 9th objective function 59(-) to the maximization  
9
acceptance (V. Singh et al., 2021). The linear non-membership function  
problem is defined as  
* ( 59(-)) of the 9th objective 59(-) under a pessimistic approach to the  
9
maximization problem is expressed as  
1(,! +)− 5 (-)  
if 59(-) ≤ !9 9  
 
9
9
9
* ( 59(-)) =  
,
if !9 9 < 59(-) < !9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ !9 + 9 ,  
(16)  
1,  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
 
9
(! +)−(! )  
9
9
9
9
(! +)− 5 (-)  
9
9
9
0,  
* ( 59(-)) =  
,
if !9 < 59(-) < !9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ !9 + 9 ,  
(12)  
9
(! +)−!  
0,  
9
9
9
where 9 and 9 are the tolerance variables of the 9th objective and defined  
as 9 = (*9 !9),  
9 = 1, 2, ..., : .  
1
= (1 + ), ∈ (0, 1), 9 = 1, 2, ..., : .  
1
9
9
The corresponding exponential non-membership function *( 59(-)) is  
The corresponding exponential non-membership function *( 59(-)) is  
9
9
defined as  
constructed as  
1, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9  
if !9 < 59(-) < !9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ !9 + 9 .  
 
1, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ !9 9  
if !9 9 < 59(-) < !9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ !9 + 9 .  
(( 5 (-)−! )/ꢄ  
)
3  
9
9
9
9
9
*( 59(-)) =  
(13)  
(( 5 (-)−(! ))/(+)) −3  
4
4  
 
,
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
3  
*( 59(-)) =  
4
4  
9
9
14  
,
3  
9
9
0,  
14  
0,  
(17)  
The linear non-membership function ! ( 59(-)) of the 9th objective 59(-)  
9
The linear non-membership function ! ( 59(-))) of the 9th objective function  
9
under a pessimistic approach to the minimization problem is expressed as  
59(-) to the minimization problem is defined as  
0,  
if 59(-) ≤ *9 9  
if *9 9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 ,  
 
5 (-)−(* )  
1,  
if 59(-) ≤ *9 9  
if *9 9 < 59(-) < *9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 + 9 ,  
9
9
9
 
! ( 59(-)) =  
,
(14)  
5 (-)−(* )  
9
* −(* )  
1,  
9
9
9
9
9
9
! ( 59(-)) =  
,
(18)  
9
(* +)−(* )  
0,  
9
9
9
9
9 = :1 + 1, :1 + 2, ..., :.  
The corresponding exponential non-membership function !( 59(-)) is  
where 9 and 9 are the tolerance variables of the 9th objective and defined  
9
as 9 = (*9 !9), 9 = (1 + ), ∈ (0, 1), 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :.  
1
1
9
defined as  
The corresponding exponential non-membership function !( 59(-)) is  
9
0, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ *9 9  
if *9 9 < 59(-) < *9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 .  
constructed as  
 
(* 5 (-))/ꢄ  
)
3  
9
9
9
9
9
!( 59(-)) =  
(15)  
4
4  
,
3  
9
9
0, 3  
if 59(-) ≤ *9 9  
if *9 9 < 59(-) < *9 + 9  
if 59(-) ≥ *9 + 9 .  
14  
 
1,  
((* +)− 5 (-))/(+)) −3  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
!( 59(-)) =  
4
4  
,
3  
9
9
14  
1,  
Their possible shape is shown in Figure 2.  
(19)  
Their general shape is shown in Figure 3.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
47  
   
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Problem (21) can be expressed based on the DM’s perspectives, using  
the membership and non-membership functions constructed from Sections  
3.2.1 to 3.2.3, as presented below.  
From an optimistic viewpoint, problem (21) can be expressed as  
:
:
Ö
Ö
F
©
-
-
ª
®
®
©
-
-
ª
®
®
F
9
9
max  
×
(1 ꢇ  
)
>
>
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
«
¬
subject to  
3
3
3
3
(1−((* 5 (-))/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
4
4
4
4
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
>
1
9
(1−(( 5 (-)−! )/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
(22)  
(23)  
(24)  
(1−(( 5 (-)−(! ))/(* −(! ))))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
>
1
9
(1−(((* +)− 5 (-))/((* +)−! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
(a)  
(b)  
0 + 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
1
1
1
9
9
Figure 3: Exponential membership and non-membership functions for maximization  
(a) and minimization (b) objectives under the mixed approach.  
0 ꢆ  
,
9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
1
1
1
1
9
9
, (-) ≤ 2 + (), 8 = 1, 2, ..., <  
8
8
8
- 0.  
After converting an IFMOO problem into its equivalent crisp MOO  
problem using the accuracy function (S. K. Singh & Yadav, 2015a), the  
membership and non-membership functions are constructed based on the  
DMs’ viewpoints. Accordingly, aggregation operators have been proposed  
(Mahajan & Gupta, 2021b; S. K. Singh & Yadav, 2015b; V. Singh &  
Yadav, 2018) to combine the membership and non-membership functions.  
However, such aggregation methods have certain limitations, as they fail  
to consider for both the satisfaction and dissatisfaction associated with  
all objectives. To address this limitation, the IFWG operator, previously  
applied to various multicriteria decision-making problems, is extended in  
this study to the MOO problem.  
The pessimistic variant of problem (21) described as  
:
:
Ö
Ö
F
©
-
-
ª
®
®
©
-
-
ª
®
®
F
9
9
max  
×
(1 ꢇ  
)
>
>
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
«
¬
subject to  
3
3
3
3
(1−((* 5 (-))/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
4
4
4
4
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
>
1
9
To formulate a single aggregation operator based on Theorem 3.1.1, a  
multiplicative combination is employed to integrate the independently  
defined degrees of acceptance and rejection. This approach helps to  
emphasize the interaction between the two degrees. Accordingly, the  
aggregation operator can be expressed as  
(1−(( 5 (-)−! )/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
(1−(( 5 (-)−! )/))  
3
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
>
1
9
(1−((* 5 (-))/))  
3
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
0 + 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
:
:
1
1
1
9
9
Ö
Ö
©
-
ª
©
ª
®
9
F
9
/(, ) =  
F9 × 1 − (1 −  
(1 9)  
)
®
-
0 ꢆ  
,
9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
1
1
1
1
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
«
¬
, (-) ≤ 2 + (), 8 = 1, 2, ..., <  
8
8
8
(20)  
:
:
- 0.  
Ö
Ö
F9  
×
(1 9)  
©
-
ª
®
©
-
ª
9
F
9
=
®
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
«
¬
For the mixed approach, problem (21) is expressed as  
Therefore, the IFMOO problem (1) can be solved using an equivalent crisp  
model by employing the aggregation operator (20) as follows:  
:
:
Ö
Ö
©
-
ª
®
©
-
ª
®
9
F
9
:
:
max  
F>  
×
(1 >  
)
Ö
Ö
F
©
-
-
ª
®
®
©
-
-
ª
®
®
F
9
9
9
9
max  
×
(1 ꢇ  
)
>
>
9
9=1  
9=1  
9
«
¬
«
¬
9=1  
9=1  
«
¬
«
¬
subject to  
subject to  
*( 5 (-)) ≥ > , 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
! ( 59(-)) ≥ > , 9 = :1 + 1, :1 + 2, ..., :  
*( 5 (-)) ≤ > , 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
!( 59(-)) ≤ > , 9 = :1 + 1, :1 + 2, ..., :  
0 > + > 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., : , :1 + 1, :1 + 2, ..., :  
0 > > , 9 = 1, 2, ..., : , :1 + 1, :1 + 2, ..., :  
3
3
3
3
(1−((* 5 (-))/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
1
4
4
4
4
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
9
>
9
1
9
9
(1−(( 5 (-)−! )/(* ! )))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≥ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
9
9
(1−(( 5 (-)−(! ))/(+)))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
(21)  
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., :  
>
1
9
1
9
9
9
(1−(((* +)− 5 (-))/(+)))  
3
9
9
9
9
9
9
+ (1 4 ) ≤ 1, 9 = : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
1
1
9
9
9
0 + 1, 9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
1
1
1
9
9
1
9
9
0 ꢆ  
,
9 = 1, 2, ..., : , : + 1, : + 2, ..., :  
>
>
1
1
1
1
9
9
1
, (-) ≤ 2 + (), 8 = 1, 2, ..., <  
9
9
8
8
8
- 0.  
, (-) ≤ 2 + (), 8 = 1, 2, ..., <  
1
8
8
8
- 0,  
T heorem 3.2.1. A unique optimal solution (-, , ) of problem (22)  
where F9 is the weight assigned to the 9th objective such that  
F9 ∈ (0, 1) and 9=1 F9 = 1.  
Í
:
corresponds to a POS -of problem (2), where = (> , > , ..., >  
)
1
2
:
1
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
48  
 
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
and = (> , > , ..., > ).  
Then, using (ii) and (iii), we get  
1
2
:
1
Proof. Since  
ˆ> > , 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : } and ˆ> > ꢆ> for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : }.  
:
:
1
1
Ö
Ö
1
1
(iv)  
/(, ) =  
F>  
×
(1 >  
)
9
9
©
-
ª
®
©
-
ª
®
9
9
9
F
9
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
> > 1 > 1 > , 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : },  
«
¬
«
¬
ˆ
ˆ
ˆ
1
9
9
9
9
Let (-, , ) be a unique solution of problem (22). Then  
(v)  
> < ꢇ> 1 > > 1 > , for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : }.  
ˆ
1
9
9
9
9
/(, ) > /(, ), ∀(-, , ) in the feasible space of (22).  
Suppose -is not a POS of problem (2). Then, by Definition 3.1.4, - in  
Now, using (iv), we get  
ˆ
the feasible space of (2) such that  
:
:
1
1
Ö
Ö
ˆF>  
>
(>  
)
9
F
9
.
(vi)  
9
9
ˆ
ˆ
9=1  
9=1  
5 (-) ≥ 5 (- ), 9 = 1, 2, . . . , : and 5 (-) > 5 (- ), for at least one9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : } (8)  
1
1
9
9
9
9
Thus,  
Using (v), we obtain  
59(-) − !9  
ˆ
59(-) − !9  
,
9 = 1, 2, ..., : ,  
1
*9 !9  
*9 !9  
:
:
1
1
Ö
Ö
and  
F
F
(1 >  
)
>
(1 >  
)
.
(vii)  
9
9
ˆ
9
9
59(-) − !9  
59(-) − !9  
ˆ
9=1  
9=1  
>
for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : }.  
1
*9 !9  
*9 !9  
Finally, from (vi) and (vii), we conclude:  
Since 39 > 0,  
ˆ
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
:
:
:
:
4
3 ((* 5 (-))/(* ! )) 43  
4
3 ((* 5 (- ))/(* ! )) 43  
1
1
1
1
Ö
Ö
Ö
Ö
ˆF>  
(1 >  
)
>
(>  
)
(1 >  
)
=⇒  
,
9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : },  
9
F
F
9
F
1
9
9
ˆ
1 43  
1 43  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9=1  
9=1  
9=1  
9=1  
and  
ˆ
3
(
(
*
5
(
-
)
)
/
(
*
!
)
)
3
4
4
4
3 ((* 5 (- ))/(* ! )) 43  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
>
,
ˆ
1 43  
1 43  
/(ˆ, ) > /(, ),  
9
9
for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : }.  
Similarly, for non-membersh1ip functions:  
(ii)  
which contradicts the optimality of (-, , ) for problem (22). Hence, no  
ˆ
such - exists, and therefore - is a POS of problem (2).  
ƒ
*9 59(-)  
*9 59(-)  
ˆ
The theorem can be proved similarly for the remaining two perspectives of  
, 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : },  
1
the DMs and for minimization objectives.  
*9 − (!9 9) *9 − (!9 9)  
and  
The overall solution procedure of the proposed method for solving an  
IFMOO problem can be summarized as follows:  
ˆ
*9 59(-)  
*9 59(-)  
<
,
for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : },  
1
*9 − (!9 9)  
*9 − (!9 9)  
Step 1.  
Step 2.  
Formulate the IFMOO problem (1).  
ˆ
3
(
(
5
(
-
)
+
!
)
/
(
*
+
!
)
)
3
4
4
4
3 (( 5 (- )+! )/(* +! )) 43  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
=⇒  
,
Transform the IFMOO problem into the equivalent crisp  
MOOP (2) by employing the accuracy function.  
1 43  
1 43  
9
9
9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : } , and  
43 (( 5 (-)+! )/(* +! )) 43  
1
Step 3.  
Step 4.  
Step 5.  
Solve each objective function independently and construct  
the pay-off table to determine the lower and upper bounds,  
denoted by !9 and *9, respectively, for each objective  
function 59(-), where 9 = 1, 2, ..., :.  
ˆ
3 (( 5 (- )+! )/(* +! )) 43  
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
4
<
,
1 43  
1 43  
9
9
for at least one 9 ∈ {1, 2, ..., : }.  
(iii)  
1
Define  
Construct the exponential membership and non-membership  
functions corresponding to each objective function under  
the optimistic, pessimistic, and mixed approaches using  
the tolerance parameters 9 and 9, where 9 = 1, 2, ..., :.  
 
!
ˆ
9
*
5 (-)  
9
9
3  
3  
3  
3  
9
9
9
9
*
!  
9
43  
9
4
4
ˆ>  
=
=
,
9
9
1 43  
9
Relax or reduce the type and type constraints by  
employing the assigned violation parameter ;8 in the forms  
28 + (;8) and 28 (;8), respectively, where ∈ (0, 1) and  
8 = 1, 2, ..., <.  
 
*
5 (-  
)
9
9
*
!  
43  
9
9
9
>  
,
1 43  
9
!
Step 6.  
Step 7.  
Develop and solve the problem according to the DM’s  
preference under the optimistic (22) or pessimistic (23) or  
mixed (24) model.  
ˆ
9
5 (-)+!  
9
9
9
*
+!  
9
9
43  
9
4
4
ˆ
>  
=
=
,
9
9
1 43  
9
If the obtained solution satisfies the DM, then terminate the  
solution procedure. Otherwise, reformulate the problem  
and repeat the process until a satisfactory solution is  
obtained.  
5 (- )+!  
9
9
9
*
+!  
43  
9
9
9
9
>  
.
1 43  
9
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
49  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
By solving each objective independently, subject to the constraints, the  
ideal solutions and the extreme values of the objectives are identified.  
4 Comparative Analysis  
To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a comparative analysis  
was conducted using the approach proposed by V. Singh and Yadav (2018).  
The manufacturing problem presented in their study was employed for this  
purpose. Accordingly, the transformed equivalent crisp problem is  
Accordingly, - = (0, 84.09, 52.66) and - = (0, 120.85, 0) which give  
1
!
= 1223.62, * = 1272.69, and ! = 468.320, * = 595.73.  
1
2
2
For an optimisti1c DM, problem (25) is transformed into a single-objective  
problem of the form (26) using model (22), by assigning equal weights to  
the objectives and considering violation parameters of 25 and 20 units for  
the first and second constraints, respectively.  
max 5 (-) = 7.5G1 + 10.125G2 + 8G ,  
1
min 5 (-) = 2.9375G1 + 3.8750G2 +35.1250G  
2
3
subject to  
2.9375G1 + 2.0625G2 + 2.9375G 328.125,  
(25)  
3
3.875G1 + 2.9375G2 + 2.0625G 355.625,  
3
2.0625G1 + 2.9375G2 + 2.9375G 355,  
3
- = (G , G , G ) ≥ 0.  
1
2
3
max / = 01.502.5(1 )0.5(1 )0.5  
1
2
subject to  
+10.125G +8G  
40.2(1−((1272.69−(7.5G  
+3.8750G +5.1250G  
3
))/(1272.691223.62))) + (1 40.2) ≥ 1,  
1
2
3
1
40.2(1−((2.9375G  
468.30)/(595.73468.30))) + (1 40.2) ≥ 1,  
1
2
2
+10.125G +8G −(1223.62−((1272.691223.62))))/(1272.69−(1223.62−((1272.691223.62)))))  
40.2(1−((7.5G  
+
1
2
3
(1 40.2) ≤ 1,  
1
+3.8750G +5.1250G ))/((595.73+((595.73468.30)))−468.30)))  
40.2(1−(((595.73+((595.73468.30)))−(2.9375G  
+
1
2
3
(1 40.2) ≤ 1,  
2
2.0625G1 + 3.8750G2 + 2.9375G 333.125 + (25),  
3
3.8750G1 + 2.0625G2 + 2.0625G 365.625 + (20),  
(26)  
3
2.9375G1 + 2.0625G2 + 2.9375G 360,  
3
0 9 + 9 1, 9 = 1, 2  
0 9 1, 9 = 1, 2  
0 9 1, 9 = 1, 2  
G , G , G 0.  
1
2
3
Solving this problem, using LINGO (LINDO Systems Inc., 2017) version 21,  
the solution is presented in Table 1.  
Table 1: Solutions of problem (26) under different values.  
-
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
2
1
2
3
0.3  
0.4  
0.5  
0.6  
0.7  
0.8  
(0.00, 121.49, 3.30)  
(0.00, 123.79, 0.00)  
(0.00, 124.46, 0.00)  
(0.00, 125.14, 0.00)  
(0.00, 125.70, 0.00)  
(0.00, 125.70, 0.00)  
1248.50  
1253.35  
1260.24  
1267.13  
1272.69  
1272.69  
482.56  
479.68  
482.31  
484.95  
487.08  
487.08  
257.33  
255.31  
256.72  
258.12  
259.25  
259.25  
361.63  
363.62  
365.62  
367.62  
369.24  
369.24  
363.63  
363.62  
365.62  
367.62  
369.24  
369.24  
As increases, 5 (-) improves while 5 (-) reaches its lowest value around  
Similarly, by reformulating problem (25) for pessimistic and mixed DM  
perspectives using models (23) and (24), respectively, we obtain the  
following solutions presented in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.  
1
2
= 0.4 and then slightly worsens for larger values of . This shows a  
trade-off, where increasing emphasis shifts from minimizing 5 (-) toward  
2
maximizing 5 (-). The solution becomes stable for larger .  
1
Table 2: Solutions of Problem (25) under the pessimistic perspective.  
-
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
2
1
2
3
0.3  
0.4  
0.5  
0.6  
0.7  
0.8  
(0.00, 114.81, 11.82)  
(0.00, 118.60, 7.39)  
(0.00, 122.39, 2.96)  
(2.02, 118.03, 6.35)  
(2.91, 118.91, 4.40)  
(3.47, 118.96, 4.23)  
1256.98  
1259.93  
1262.88  
1260.97  
1260.91  
1264.38  
505.45  
497.44  
489.44  
495.83  
491.84  
492.86  
271.51  
266.32  
261.13  
268.01  
266.70  
267.98  
361.62  
363.62  
365.63  
367.62  
369.62  
371.62  
371.97  
370.09  
368.22  
369.52  
409.67  
369.04  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
50  
 
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
For the pessimistic variants of the problem, as increases, 5 (-) improves  
fluctuations in both objectives.  
while 5 (-) remains relatively stable in the mid-range of , w1ith only minor  
2
Table 3: Solutions of Problem (25) under the mixed perspective.  
-
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
2
1
2
3
0.3  
0.4  
0.5  
0.6  
0.7  
0.8  
(0.00, 114.81, 11.82)  
(0.00, 118.60, 7.39)  
(0.00, 119.26, 7.42)  
(0.00, 125.15, 0.00)  
(0.00, 125.49, 0.00)  
(0.00, 125.56, 0.00)  
1256.98  
1259.93  
1262.88  
1267.13  
1270.58  
1271.13  
505.45  
497.44  
500.15  
484.95  
486.27  
486.54  
271.51  
266.32  
267.76  
258.12  
258.82  
258.96  
361.62  
363.62  
365.62  
367.62  
368.62  
368.82  
371.97  
370.09  
372.12  
367.62  
368.62  
368.82  
For the mixed variants of the problem, as increases, the solution steadily  
= 0.6, the solution minimizes 5 (-).  
2
improves 5 (-), while 5 (-) stabilizes after an initial fluctuation. Around  
1
2
Table 4: Comparison of the proposed method with existing approach.  
Variant  
Proposed method (= 0.3 to 0.8)  
Existing method (from C = 1 to 5, under two reference  
conditions)  
Optimistic  
Pessimistic  
Mixed  
5 (-) maximized within the range 1248.50 to 1272.69,  
5 (-) maximized within the range 1244.91 to 1248.62,  
1
1
5 (-) minimized within the range 487.08 to 479.68  
5 (-) minimized within the range 530.80 to 520.33  
2
2
5 (-) maximized within the range 1256.98 to 1264.38,  
5 (-) maximized within the range 1248.63 to 1251.92,  
1
1
5 (-) minimized within the range 505.45 to 489.44  
5 (-) minimized within the range 539.37 to 530.7  
2
2
5 (-) maximized within the range 1256.98 to 1271.13,  
5 (-) = 1248.77 (maximized),  
1
1
5 (-) minimized within the range 505.45 to 484.95  
5 (-) = 530.66 (minimized)  
2
2
The proposed method dominates the existing approaches across all  
decision-making variants by achieving higher values of 5 (-) and lower  
values of 5 (-) under different values of ∈ (0, 1). It sho1ws a significant  
2
reduction in 5 (-), indicating improved minimization performance.  
2
Generally, the results demonstrate that the proposed model provides more  
efficient and balanced trade-off between the two conflicting objectives.  
5 Model Application  
5.1 Description of the Study Area  
The farming site is in Abeshge district, Gurage Zone, central Ethiopia,  
between 81908450 N latitude and 374503870 E longitude (Nasir &  
Hundie, 2014). Mean annual temperatures range from 18C to 28.3C, with  
rainfall of 801–1400 mm, mostly during the Kiremt season (Dessie et al.,  
2017). The soil is sandy loam, with a pH of 6.40–6.92.  
Farming is mainly rainfed due to limited irrigation, though a few seasonal  
rivers support perennial crops like mangoes and bananas along their  
banks. Te(Eragrostis tef), maize (Zea mays), pepper (Capsicum annuum),  
chickpea (Cicer arietinum), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and sorghum  
(Sorghum bicolor) are the most widely cultivated crops in the area. These  
crops dominate the farming pattern, accounting for about 85% of the  
cropped area in the district.  
The study area was chosen due to its high crop production potential and the  
availability of accessible agricultural data. The considered LSF has detailed  
information on existing cropping patterns, which makes the farming site  
suitable for empirical analysis. Furthermore, the study area represents the  
dominant farming system of the area, allowing the findings to be relevant  
to smallholder farmers in the area. This LSF practices rainfed farming on  
1,033ha of land in Gefersa kebele. The location map of the study area is  
shown in Figure 4.  
Figure 4: Map of the study area.  
5.2 Methods of Data Collection and  
Analysis  
A stratified purposive sampling method was employed to intentionally  
select the large-scale farm (LSF) site based on its suitability for the study.  
The selection criteria included the availability of reliable and accessible  
data, representative farming practices, adequate capital investment, and  
sufficient manpower. These characteristics enabled the farm to effectively  
represent the target study population and provide meaningful insights into  
the research objectives.  
The existing farming pattern mainly targeted on the achievement of  
maximum production. The required input allocation to the crops are mainly  
determined by experience, even though they rarely apply the advice and  
paradigm of the developmental agents and extension workers in the district.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
51  
 
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
The data were collected from farmers, managers, and workers of the  
LSF, extension experts, development agents, the zonal rural development  
office, meteorological stations, and marketing agencies through surveys,  
questionnaires, and key informant interviews.  
expenditures for cultivation and agricultural input resources are presented  
in Tables 5 to 9.  
Crop data are presented in Supplementary Materials S.7 and S.8. These,  
along with the soil data in Supplementary Material S.9, are used to calculate  
crop water requirements.  
The dataset incorporates environmental, climatic, hydrological,  
agricultural, and socio-economic factors. Hydrological data cover effective  
rainfall and crop water demand. Effective rainfall was calculated using the  
dependable rain (FAO/AGLW formula) method Allen et al., 1998, while  
crop water demand was estimated with the Penman-Monteith equation  
(Allen et al., 1998; Smith, 1992) using crop evapotranspiration.  
The considered crops are denoted as 21 for maize, 22 for teff,23 for sorghum,  
2
for pepper, 2 for chickpea, 2 for bean.  
4
5
6
In Table 5, ꢃ  
12  
and ꢃ  
represent the fertilizers required for crop 2=, where  
22  
=
=
= = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, in the first and second rounds, respectively. Accordingly,  
denotes NPS, while ꢃ  
represents Urea. Similarly, and ꢄ  
12 22  
=
12  
22  
rep=resent the required herbicides for crop 2= in the first and second rounds,  
respectively. The pesticide required for crop 2= is denoted by %2= . Thus, the  
following symbols are used to denote different herbicides and pesticides:  
=
=
Crop data such as rooting depth, crop coefficient, critical depletion, yield  
response, crop height, and crop calendar were obtained from FAO Manual  
56 (Allen et al., 1998) and related literature.  
Socio-economic data include crop market prices, labor and machinery costs,  
fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide dosages and prices, and land resource  
information.  
and ꢄ  
for Atrazine, ꢄ  
12  
for 2,4-D, ꢄ  
for Pallas 45 OD, ꢄ  
22 12  
22  
22  
12  
1
3
2
2
4
for Glyphosate, ꢄ  
%
and ꢄ  
for Pendimethalin, 2 for S-metolachlor,  
22  
for Diazinon 605EC, %2 for Dimethoate, %2 for Karate 5 EC, %2 for  
6
6
2
Ethiozinon 60 EC, %2 for Highway 50 EC, and %32 for Profit.  
1
2
4
5
6
The gathered data from different sources for a specific parameter are  
arranged into five groups, viz., the extreme minimum, minimum, median,  
maximum, and extreme maximum values, based on the level of their  
deviation from the median value. The values less than the median value  
are arranged into the extreme minimum and minimum values. Specifically,  
the average of the highly deviated values from the median value is taken  
as the extreme minimum value, while the average of the relatively less  
deviated values from the median is considered as the minimum value. In  
the same manner, the values greater than the median value are arranged into  
the maximum and extreme maximum values in the agricultural production  
problem. The average of the median values of a parameter is taken as the  
mean value.  
Table 5: Usage of fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide.  
%
2
(!/ℎ0)  
12  
22  
12  
22  
=
=
=
=
=
Crop  
(:,/ℎ0)  
(:,/ℎ0)  
(!/ℎ0)  
(!/ℎ0)  
g
g
e
e
maize (2 )  
100  
125  
-
1
1
1
g
g
e
f
e
teff (2 )  
100  
100  
1
0.5  
1
2
g
g
e
e
sorghum (2 )  
100  
100  
-
1
1
3
g
g
f
f
pepper (2 )  
100  
200  
1.5  
-
-
1.5  
4
g
e
e
chickpea (2 )  
100  
-
-
1
1
5
g
e
g
e
bean (2 )  
100  
1
0.75  
1
6
The IFN in Table 5 describe the following numbers.  
Using this principle, the aggregated values are used to construct triangular  
IFNs to represent the APP problem more realistically.  
g
f
200 = h196, 198, 208; 194, 198, 210i,  
1.5 = h1.1, 1.6, 1.7; 1, 1.6, 1.8i,  
g
e
125 = h123, 125, 127; 122, 125, 128i,  
1 = h0.75, 1, 1.25; 0.5, 1, 1.5i,  
g
g
100 = h97, 99, 105; 95.5, 99, 106.5i,  
0.75 = h0.6, 0.7, 1; 0.3, 0.7, 1.3i,  
In this study, the last twelve years climatic data from 2013 to 2024 were  
gathered from Emdbir meteorological station, with an altitude of 2082<,  
latitude 8.13N and longitude 37.93E.  
In order to handle the current extreme variation in the cost of input  
resources for crop cultivation and crop prices in the country, we have  
employed closely related data for the proposed study. Accordingly, the  
average data from 2022 to 2024 of the existing cropping schemes, crop yield  
(FAO, 2022, 2023), labor force, crop prices, cost of seeds, and other related  
f
e
2.5 = h2, 2.6, 2.8; 1.9, 2.8, 2.9i,  
2 = h1.9, 2, 2.1; 1.5, 2, 2.5i  
f
0.5 = h0.2, 0.5, 0.7; 0.1, 0.5, 1i.  
The costs of cultivation, including plowing, threshing, land rent, seed, labor,  
herbicides and pesticides, and fertilizers, are provided in Supplementary  
Materials S.2, S.3, S.4, S.11, and S.12, respectively.  
The overall cost of the cultivation of each crop is presented in Table 6.  
Table 6: Cost of cultivation (2 ) and crop yield (. = ).  
2
=
2  
.
(@C;/ℎ0)  
2
=
=
Crop  
(ꢂ)ꢅ/ℎ0)  
maize (2 )  
h35623, 35627, 35628; 35620, 35627, 35629i  
h35698, 35705, 35714; 35689, 35705, 35719i  
h26838, 26845, 26854; 26829, 26845, 26859i  
h41113, 41120, 41129; 41104, 41120, 41134i  
h20655, 20659, 20666; 20649, 20659, 20674i  
h25124, 25131, 25140; 25115, 25131, 25145i  
h50, 54, 62; 47, 54, 65i  
1
teff (2 )  
h12.5, 13.5, 16.5; 12, 13.5, 17i  
h23, 24.5, 27.5; 22.5, 24.5, 29i  
h11, 13.5, 14; 10, 13.5, 16i  
h16.5, 17.5, 20; 15.5, 17.5, 22i  
h21, 23.5, 24; 20, 23.5, 25i  
sorgh2um (2 )  
pepper (2 )3  
4
chickpea (2 )  
5
bean (2 )  
6
The climatic data are used to calculate the crop water requirements, which are presented in Supplementary Material S.10.  
Table 7: Seed (2 ), labor (2 ) and water requirement (,2= ).  
=
=
2  
(:,/ℎ0)  
2  
(<3/ℎ0)  
,
2
(< /ℎ0)  
=
=
=
Crop  
3
maize (2 )  
h22, 26, 25; 17, 26, 27i  
h29, 30, 30.5; 28.5, 30, 32i  
h14, 14.5, 16.5; 13.5, 14.5, 18i  
h15, 15.5, 17.5; 14.5, 15.5, 19i  
h26, 28, 30; 25, 28, 31i  
h19, 21, 23; 18, 21, 24i  
h80, 86, 89; 75, 86, 92i  
h70, 76, 80; 64, 76, 82i  
h35, 41, 45; 30, 41, 46i  
h97, 99, 105; 94, 99, 108i  
h25, 31, 35; 20, 31, 36i  
h47, 51, 52; 45, 51, 55i  
h3570, 3610, 3625; 3565, 3610, 3648i  
h2580, 2625, 2640; 2564, 2625, 2660i  
h3240, 3249, 3252; 3225, 3249, 3255i  
h4750, 4766, 4770; 4705, 4766, 4783i  
h2515, 2540, 2560; 2505, 2540, 2572i  
h2355, 2360, 2386; 2347, 2360, 2400i  
1
teff (2 )  
sorgh2um (2 )  
pepper (2 )3  
4
chickpea (2 )  
5
bean (2 )  
6
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
52  
     
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
The farming machines used in the area are a tractor and a combine harvester. Machine hours for plowing are considered until the land is ready for sowing;  
details are in Supplementary Material S.1. The required total machine hours for each crop are shown in Table 8.  
Table 8: Machine hours requirement ("2 ) and profit (#2= ).  
=
"
(ℎA/ℎ0)  
#
2
(ꢂ)ꢅ/ℎ0)  
2
=
=
Crop  
maize (2 )  
h1.83, 2.167, 2.33; 1.42, 2.167, 2.42i  
h1.83, 2.167, 2.33; 1.42, 2.167, 2.42i  
h1.75, 2, 2.42; 1.5, 2, 2.5i  
h33117, 33123, 33136; 33109, 33123, 33138i  
h13293, 13295, 13297; 13290, 13295, 13300i  
h18148, 18154, 18165; 18141, 18154, 18170i  
h192873, 192881, 192888; 192862, 192881, 192893i  
h25830, 25842, 25849; 25820, 25842, 25853i  
h16262, 16269, 16278; 16253, 16269, 16283i  
1
teff (2 )  
sorgh2um (2 )  
pepper (2 )3  
h1.75, 2, 2.42; 1.5, 2, 2.5i  
4
chickpea (2 )  
h1.83, 2.167, 2.33; 1.42, 2.167, 2.42i  
h1.75, 2, 2.42; 1.5, 2, 2.5i  
5
bean (2 )  
6
The cropland allocation in the existing situation during 2020 - 2024 is given in the Supplementary Material S.5. Accordingly, the average land allocation of  
the existing system and the attainability and non-attainability degrees of the intended objectives are depicted in Table 9. Where G , G , G , G , G , and G  
6
2
3
5
denote the land area allocated to maize, teff, sorghum, pepper, chickpea, and beans, respectively. The functions 5 (-), 5 (-), 5 (-),1and 5 (-),4respectively,  
1
2
3
4
represent the yield, profit, cost, and labor objectives.  
Table 9: Existing farm pattern.  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
644160  
0.20  
4
1
2
3
(221.02, 141.41,14012.32,3106.42,562.629, 121.57)  
29470.15  
41510180  
31413470  
0.81  
0.19  
0.20  
0.28  
0.17  
0.30  
0.28  
Some mathematical software is employed to solve the considered APP  
problem and assist in analyzing the results of the study. CROPWAT  
8.0 software (Smith, 1992) is used to generate and analyze the water  
requirement of crops, and LINGO (LINDO Systems Inc., 2017) is used to  
solve complex mathematical problems.  
are described as IFN. Thus, the objectives and constraints of the intended  
problem are expressed as intuitionistic fuzzy functions. Accordingly,  
IFMOO model is employed for comprehensive and efficacious investigation.  
The Kiremt season is the widely practiced cropping season in the study area.  
Crops such as maize, pepper, and sorghum are sown during the Belg season  
and harvested by the end of Kiremt. Teand beans are sown in the Kiremt  
season and harvested during the Bega season, while chickpea is planted in  
the last days of Kiremt and harvested in the Bega season. Thus, all six crops  
considered in this study are generally cultivated within a single cropping  
season.  
5.3 Problem Formulation  
As a result of the inconsistent nature and imprecision of the pertained  
agricultural data, crop planning rests under the influence of risk and  
uncertainty (Luo et al., 2023). So the parameters in the APP problem  
Table 10: Decision variable and parameters.  
Parameters  
)!  
)!A  
Description  
Total farmland for crop cultivation (ℎ0)  
Minimum land area required for cultivation (ℎ0)  
Average yield per unit area of crop 2 (@C;/ℎ0)  
.
2
#
Average net profit of crop 2 per hectare (ꢂ)ꢅ/ℎ0)  
Average investment per unit area of crop 2 (ꢂ)ꢅ/ℎ0)  
Average machine-hours required per unit area of crop 2 (ℎA/ℎ0)  
Average labor required per unit area of crop 2 (<3/ℎ0)  
Average water requirement per unit area of crop 2 (<3/ℎ0)  
2
2  
"
2
2  
,
2
2  
;2  
%
;2  
;2  
)"  
),  
)ꢂ2  
)ꢃ;  
Seed required per unit area of crop 2 (:,/ℎ0)  
Cℎ  
;
;
type of fertilizer required per unit area for crop 2 (:,/ℎ0)  
Cℎ  
type of pesticide required per unit area for crop 2 (!/ℎ0)  
Cℎ  
;
type of herbicide required per unit area for crop 2 (!/ℎ0)  
Total available machine-hours (ℎA)  
Total available water (<3)  
Total available seed for crop 2 (:,)  
Total available ;Cfertilizer (:,)  
)%;  
)ꢄ;  
Total available ;Cpesticide (!)  
Total available ;Cherbicide (!)  
Decision  
Description  
Land area allocated to crop 2 (ℎ0)  
variable  
-
2
Note: <3 denotes man-days.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
53  
   
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Objective functions  
during growth stage from different pests and insects. This constraint is  
formulated as  
Based on their accessibility and regional importance, the following four  
objectives are considered in this study.  
6
Õ
f
g
%
;2 -2 - )%; , ; = 1, 2, ..., !.  
(34)  
(i) Crop yield achievement  
2=1  
The estimated yield of a crop is equal to the product of the cultivable area  
of land and the average yield produced per unit area of land.  
Thus, the maximization of the total yield of the considered six crops can be  
expressed as  
(vi) Machine hours  
Different types of machines are needed for various tasks of agriculture,  
such as tilling, plowing, sowing, cultivating, harvesting, threshing, etc. The  
sum of the machine hours allocated to each season should not exceed the  
machine hours required in a year. That means,  
6
Õ
e
e
max 5 (-) ≈  
. -2 .  
(27)  
1
2
2=1  
6
Õ
(ii) Net profit goal  
g
g
"2 -2 - )".  
(35)  
The net profit of various crops, is the product of the net profit of each crop  
per unit area of land and its respective utilized land, which is described as  
2=1  
(vii) Cultivable land availability  
6
Õ
e
f
The sum of cultivable land for all crops must not exceed the total available  
land. Furthermore, the total cultivable land should be less than the entire  
arable land available in the study area. This is formulated as  
max 5 (-) ≈  
#2 -2 .  
(28)  
2
2=1  
(iii) Cost of cultivation goal  
6
To get the optimum production, farmers should invest a certain amount  
of money for land rent, fertilizers, seeds, herbicides, pesticides, rental  
machines, labor force, etc. Minimizing this working capital is another  
important objective of farmers and mathematically given by  
Õ
f
-2 - )!.  
(36)  
2=1  
On the other hand, a minimum cultivable land area should be allocated to  
crop production to maintain a minimum level of agricultural output and  
profit while ensuring efficient utilization of available land resources. This  
constraint is mathematically expressed as  
6
Õ
e
e
min 5 (-) ≈  
2 -2 .  
(29)  
3
2=1  
(vi) Labor requirement  
The labor objective is described as  
6
Õ
g
-2 ¥ )!A .  
(37)  
2=1  
=
Õ
e
f
min 5 (-) ≈  
2 -2 .  
(30)  
4
(i) Seed requirement  
2=1  
Seed availability constraints were incorporated into the model to describe  
the limitations in accessing selected seed for each crop. The maximum seed  
availability for each crop was determined based on the recommended seed  
requirement per hectare (Table 7), the maximum feasible cultivable area  
for each crop, and crop suitability conditions under local agro-ecological  
settings (Semu et al., 2022). This constraint mathematically expressed as  
Constraints  
The above four objectives are subject to the following eight constraints.  
(ii) Water requirement  
Additional water through irrigation is required to meet the crop’s  
evapotranspiration needs and optimize yield. The constraint for water  
supply can be described as  
f
g
2 -2 - )ꢂ2 , 2 = 1, 2, ..., 6.  
(38)  
6
Õ
f
g
,2 -2 - ),.  
(31)  
(viii) Non-negativity  
2=1  
In the modelling APP problem, all decision variables should be  
non-negative.  
-
0  
2 = 1, 2, ..., 6.  
(39)  
2
For sustainable optimal crop yield and maximum profit, agricultural input  
resources should not be used at the expense of the environment (Li et al.,  
2020). Therefore, to reduce the adverse effects of fertilizers, pesticides, and  
herbicides on the environment, the optimum amounts of these inputs must  
be considered alongside the utilization of other favorable resources.  
(iii) Dosage of fertilizer  
The stated objectives and constraints align with economic, environmental,  
and social goals, with aims to boost net benefits, use resources wisely to  
limit environmental harm, and increase local jobs (Li et al., 2020; Zhang &  
Georgescu, 2022).  
To maintain and improve the productivity of the soil, different types of  
fertilizers have to be used optimally according to the characteristics of the  
crops, soil type and climate of the region. This constraint is expressed as  
In this study, the three variants of the problem are considered  
independently to address the interference of uncontrolled conditions and  
associated risks, and individual differences in the DM process. This assists  
farmers and managers from different perspectives by proposing various  
possible alternative management schemes.  
6
Õ
f
g
;2 -2 - )ꢃ; , ; = 1, 2.  
(32)  
2=1  
In the optimistic assumption, a farmer considers using farming resources  
with varying degrees of acceptance and flexibility to accommodate other  
possible alternative operations, presuming that it offers certain benefits.  
Conversely, a pessimist DM tends to be skeptical about implementing all  
possible alternative farming tasks and partially considers those with a lower  
degree of acceptance. From a mixed perspective, the farmer’s assumption  
lies between the optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints.  
As a result, the solution of the APP problem varies according to each  
perspective (Kis et al., 2021), which leads to differences in the determination  
of the OCP. Each viewpoint has its advantages and disadvantages.  
Therefore, this study considers the optimistic, pessimistic, and mixed  
aspects of DM for efficient management of agricultural resources.  
(iv) Amount of Herbicide  
DM requires a certain level of herbicides for several crops during growth  
stage for better yield taking the availability and environmental aspects into  
account. Mathematically described as  
6
Õ
g
g
; -2 - )ꢄ; , ; = 1, 2, ..., !.  
(33)  
2
2=1  
(v) Dosage of pesticide  
Pesticide is another essential input resource of agriculture to protect crops  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
54  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
In this study, from 1, 033ℎ0 land of the LSF, nearly 1, 017ℎ0 of farmland  
is considered for crop cultivation, and 6ℎ0 to 7ℎ0 of land is supposed to  
be left permanently for forestation to maintain the ecological balance of  
the environment. In the existing system, 5ℎ0 of cropland is occupied by  
perennial crops. About 1.50ℎ0 of land of the LSF is permanently left over  
as a residential place for workers and roads. Moreover, 2.5ℎ0 of land is not  
suitable for farming and is currently used for animal grazing.  
The land management of the LSF is a traditional approach based on the  
weather conditions. They interchangeably use plots of land for different  
crops, and there is no reasonable pattern of operation on cropland.  
In this work, three scenarios of crop cultivation are designed based on  
the conventional cultivation pattern and suitability of the devised farming  
system in the study area.  
third scenarios are relaxed based on resource availability.  
In the problem formulation of the three scenarios, the upper and lower  
limits of the constraints, the value of violations, and tolerances are mainly  
based on the availability of agricultural resources. For the second and third  
scenarios, the land constraint attributed to chickpeas is expressed in terms  
of the remaining crops.  
The weights assigned to the objectives and constraints are estimated  
based on the preferences rated by managers of the LSF, farmers, and  
developmental agents of the study area.  
6 Results and Discussions  
We denote the land areas allocated to crop 2 by G2, where 2 = 1, 2, ..., 6,  
representing the land areas of maize, teff, sorghum, pepper, chickpea, and  
bean, respectively.  
The first scenario considers the case when chickpeas are planted on  
the land leftover in the first season of crop cultivation. Thus, in this  
scenario, chickpea faces the same land rent as other crops. This system is  
mainly adopted to fertilize unplowed land and to make use of fields left  
uncultivated in the first season due to factors like irregular rainfall, labor  
shortages, limited seed varieties, and lack of capital or fertilizers.  
The functions 59(-), where 9 = 1, 2, 3, 4, denote the objectives of production,  
profit, expenditure, and manpower, respectively. The constraints are  
denoted by ,8(-), where 8  
=
1, 2, ..., 8, corresponding respectively to  
water, first-round fertilizer, second-round fertilizer, first-round herbicide,  
In the second scenario, farmers plant chickpeas on land right after  
harvesting maize. This common practice helps to use the fertile soil left by  
maize and saves farmers from the additional cost of renting extra land for  
smallholder farmers with limited fields to cultivate multiple crops. Based  
on the existing farming system in the study area, at least 33% of the land  
allocated to maize is subsequently used for chickpea cultivation after maize  
harvest.  
second-round herbicide, pesticide, machine hours, and the maximum  
available land area.  
In addition, minimum land area cultivation  
requirements are imposed to secure the minimum profit and yield, while  
seed constraints are included to account for limitations in seed availability.  
Based on the available agricultural resources, the violation parameters of  
the constraints are assigned as = 5235, = 935, = 940, = 96,  
1
4
= 88, = 78, = 104, and = 4. The vio2lation para3meters for the seed  
In the third scenario, chickpeas are planted after harvesting maize,  
sorghum, and beans. Like the second scenario, the most important reason  
for farmers to use this cropping plan is to increase the yield from fertile land  
and minimize additional cultivation expenses. In order to effectively utilize  
the land for chickpea after harvesting maize, sorghum, and bean, the land  
allocated to chickpea should not be less than the combined land allocated to  
teff and pepper. Furthermore, the land allocated to bean should be at least  
equal to that allocated to sorghum. However, according to the farmers, this  
scenario is rarely practiced as land preparation for the succeeding crop after  
harvesting sorghum is a relatively challenging activity.  
c5onstrain6ts of mai7ze, teff, sorghum, pepper, chickpea, and bean are assigned  
as 66, 40, 10, 10, 44, and 38, respectively, based on their availabilities.  
8
The weights assigned to the production, profit, cost, and labor force  
objectives are 30%, 28%, 28%, and 14%, respectively. Utilizing all these  
values, the formulated problem is solved under optimistic, pessimistic, and  
mixed viewpoints by employing models (22), (23), and (24), respectively.  
The problem is defined using tolerance values expressed as multiples of ,  
with violations evaluated under the three approaches. To explore different  
solutions, several values of ∈ (0, 1), specifically 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.70,  
and 0.80, are considered in the solution process. Accordingly, the APP  
problem is solved for the three scenarios based on the objectives and  
constraints outlined in Section 5.3 and the data presented in Tables 5 to  
8.  
As chickpea is cultivated as a second crop after harvesting other crops  
within the same cropping season, the land rent for chickpea under the  
second and third scenarios decreases significantly by 65% relative to the  
annual land lease cost. Thus, to effectively utilize the available land in this  
production cycle, the upper limits of some constraints in the second and  
Scenario 1: When chickpea is planted on the fallow land.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
55  
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
The mathematical expression of this problem has the following form:  
e
f
g
f
g
f
g
max 5 (-) = 56G1 14.5G2 25G3 13.5G4 18G5 23.5G ,  
1
6
e
ž
ž
ž
Ÿ
ž
ž
max 5 (-) = 33125G1 13295G2 18154G3 192881G4 24342G5 16269G ,  
2
6
e
ž

ž
ž
ž
ž
min 5 (-) = 35625G1 3705G2 26845G3 41119G4 20659G5 25132G ,  
3
6
e
f
f
f
g
f
f
min 5 (-) = 84G1 74G2 41G3 100G4 31G5 50G  
4
6
subject to  






Ÿ
3610G1 2620G2 3245G3 4765G4 2540G5 2365G - 3410610,  
6
g
g
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
100G1 100G2 100G3 100G4 100G5 100G - 101700,  
6
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
125G1 100G2 100G3 200G - 108055,  
4
e
f
e
e

(40)  
1G2 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1145,  
6
e
f
e
g

1G1 0.5G2 1G3 0.75G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
f
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1100,  
6
g
g
e
e
g
e

2.67G1 2.67G2 2G3 2G4 2.67G5 2G - 2205,  
6
e
e
e
e
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G5 1G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
e
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G5 1G ¥ 1015,  
6
f
ž
f
ž
g
ž
26G - 21611, 30G - 15255, 14.5G - 99156,  
1
2
3
g

f
ž
f
ž
15.5G - 6509, 28G - 15662, 20G - 12204,  
4
5
6
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G ) ≥ 0,  
1
2
3
4
5
6
where,  


1145 = h1140, 1145, 1146; 1139, 1145, 1147i,  
1017 = h1016, 1017, 1018; 1015, 1017, 1019i,  


1015 = h1014, 1015, 1016; 1013, 1015, 1017i,  
1100 = h1099, 1101, 1107; 1098, 1101, 1108i,  

e
2205 = h2200, 2205, 2207; 2197, 2205, 2208i,  
1 = h0.95, 0.99, 1; 0.94, 0.99, 1.15i,  
Ÿ
3410610 = h3410609, 3410610, 3410615; 3410607, 3410610, 3410617i,  
Ÿ
101700 = h101697, 101699, 101705; 101695, 101699, 101707i,  
Ÿ
108055 = h108052, 108057, 108058; 108050, 108057, 108060i,  
ž
21611 = h21605, 21610, 21611; 21604, 21610, 21612i,  
ž
15255 = h15250, 15255, 15256; 15249, 15255, 15257i,  
ž
99156 = h99151, 99156, 99157; 99150, 99156, 99158i,  
ž
15662 = h15657, 15662, 15663; 15656, 15662, 15664i,  
ž
12204 = h12199, 12204, 12205; 12198, 12204, 12206i,  
ž
28138 = h28132, 28138, 28140; 28130, 28138, 28142i,  

6509 = h6504, 6509, 6510; 6503, 6509, 6511i.  
The remaining values of the coefficients of the variables are presented in  
Tables 5 to 8.  
The solutions of problem (40) obtained using the proposed optimistic  
approach for different ∈ (0, 1) are presented in Table 11.  
Table 11: Solutions of problem (40) under an optimistic perspective.  
-
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
544150  
54630  
55064  
55464  
55761  
55751  
/
1
2
3
0.3  
0.4  
0.5  
0.6  
0.7  
0.8  
(153.44, 0, 314.97, 78.79, 152.82, 314.97)  
(162.93, 0, 305.66, 81.88, 158.86, 305.66)  
(171.96, 0, 296.48, 84.73, 165.36, 296.48)  
(180.58, 0, 287.40, 87.37, 172.26, 287.40)  
(187.95, 0, 278.65, 89.34, 180.41, 278.65)  
(191.60, 0, 270.90, 89.31, 192.28, 270.90)  
27333.18  
27557.00  
27766.47  
27963.23  
28121.20  
28163.46  
34842180  
35579290  
36269800  
36919230  
37441020  
37578060  
28234760  
28340800  
28436290  
28522470  
28579940  
28551380  
0.2651  
0.2811  
0.2949  
0.3070  
0.3176  
0.3274  
From the above solutions, Table 11, the better compromised solution is obtained when = 0.8. So, the compromised solution for the first scenario is  
- = (191.60, 0, 270.90, 89.31, 192.28, 270.90) and its detail is depicted in Table 12.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
56  
 
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Table 12: Compromise solution of problem (40).  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
545751  
0.31  
2
5
6
1
2
3
(191.60, 0, 2710.90, 893.31,4192.28, 270.90)  
28163.46  
37578060  
28551380  
0.48  
0.20  
0.50  
0.20  
0.37  
0.26  
0.29  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
2
5
6
2
4
(191.60, 0, 2710.90, 893.31,4192.28, 270.90)  
31124448  
101500  
638902  
597.15  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
2
5
6
5
7
8
(191.60, 0, 2710.90, 893.31,4192.28, 270.90)  
665.68  
10659.65  
2287  
1015  
Based on the results given in Table 12, the required input resources to cultivate the crops under the allocated cropland are presented in Table 13.  
Table 13: Input resource requirements for allocated crops under scenario one.  
Crop  
Seed (kg)  
4789.95  
4063.58  
1428.93  
5383.90  
5418.11  
12  
(kg)  
(kg)  
(L)  
153.44  
314.97  
(L)  
%
2
=
(L)  
22  
12  
22  
=
=
=
=
maize (2 )  
15344  
31497  
7879  
23949.79  
-
-
153.44  
314.97  
133.96  
152.82  
314.97  
1
sorghum (2 )  
27090.56  
pepper (2 )3  
17861.63  
133.96  
192.28  
270.90  
-
-
4
chickpea (2 )  
15282  
31497  
-
-
5
bean (2 )  
203.17  
6
Scenario 2: Chickpea is planted after harvesting maize.  
The mathematical expression of this problem has the following form:  
e
f
g
f
g
f
g
max 5 (-) = 56G1 14.5G2 25G3 13.5G4 18G5 23.5G ,  
1
6
e
ž
ž
ž
Ÿ
ž
ž
max 5 (-) = 36100G1 13295G2 18154G3 192881G4 29865G5 16269G ,  
2
6
e
ž

ž
ž
ž
ž
min 5 (-) = 32650G1 3705G2 26845G3 41119G4 15135G5 25132G ,  
3
6
e
f
f
f
g
f
f
min 5 (-) = 84G1 74G2 41G3 100G4 31G5 50G  
4
6
subject to  






Ÿ
3610G1 2620G2 3245G3 4765G4 2540G5 2365G - 3667300,  
6
g
g
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
100G1 100G2 100G3 100G4 100G5 100G - 105900,  
6
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
125G1 100G2 100G3 200G - 127125,  
4
e
f
e
e

1G2 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1145,  
6
(41)  
e
f
e
g

1G1 0.5G2 1G3 0.75G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
f
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1525,  
6


e
e

e

2.167G1 2.167G2 2G3 2G4 2.167G5 2G - 2715,  
6
e
e
e
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G ¥ 1015,  
6
e
e
e
g
1G ¥ 1G , 1G ¥ 0.33G ,  
1
5
5
1
f
ž
f
ž
g
ž
26G - 21611, 30G - 15255, 14.5G - 99156,  
1
2
3
g

f
ž
f
ž
15.5G - 6509, 28G - 15662, 20G - 12204,  
4
5
6
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G ) ≥ 0,  
1
2
3
4
5
6
where  
Ÿ
3667300 = h3667293, 3667304, 3667307; 3667290, 3667304, 3667310i,  

g
2715 = h2712, 2715, 2718; 2710, 2715, 2720i, 0.33 = h0.31, 0.33, 0.35; 0.30, 0.33, 0.36i,  
Ÿ
105900 = h105895, 105900, 105905; 105890, 105900, 105910i,  
Ÿ
127125 = h127122, 127125, 127128; 127120, 127125, 127130i,  
ž
29490 = h29491, 29492, 29498; 29488, 29492, 29499i,  
ž
36100 = h36096, 36098, 36104; 36095, 36098, 36105i,  
ž
15135 = h15132, 15134, 15140; 15130, 15134, 15142i,  
ž
29865 = h29862, 29865, 29868; 29860, 29865, 29870i,  
ž
32650 = h32648, 32650, 32655; 32645, 32650, 32660i,  

1525 = h1522, 1525, 1528; 1520, 1525, 1530i.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
57  
   
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
By solving problem (41) using the proposed method for the optimistic  
variants of the problem, a better compromise solution is obtained for =  
0.8. The resulting compromised optimal solution for the second scenario  
is - = (156.00, 0.00, 661.58, 122.85, 51.48, 74.57), with details presented in  
Table 14.  
Table 14: Compromise solution of problem (41).  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
547384  
0.54  
1
4
6
1
2
3
(156.00, 0.00, 661.258, 3122.85,551.48, 74.57)  
29358.32  
44088180  
30558420  
0.92  
0.03  
0.30  
0.30  
0.36  
0.26  
0.18  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
4
6
2
3
4
(156.00, 0.00, 661.258, 3122.85,551.48, 74.57)  
36101808  
106648  
110228  
310.32  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
4
6
5
8
(156.00, 0.00, 661.258, 3122.85,551.48, 74.57)  
873.51  
11627.90  
22771.97  
1015  
The required input resources to cultivate the crops under the allocated cropland are presented in Table 15.  
Table 15: Input resource requirements for allocated crops under scenario two.  
Crop  
Seed (kg)  
3900.00  
9923.75  
1965.58  
1441.44  
1491.36  
(kg)  
(kg)  
(L)  
156.00  
661.58  
(L)  
%
2
=
(L)  
12  
22  
19500  
12  
22  
=
=
=
=
maize (2 )  
15600  
66158  
12285  
5148  
-
-
156.00  
661.58  
184.27  
51.48  
1
sorghum (2 )  
66158  
24570  
pepper (2 )3  
184.27  
51.48  
74.57  
-
-
4
chickpea (2 )  
-
-
5
bean (2 )  
7457  
55.93  
74.57  
6
Scenario 3: Chickpea is planted after harvesting maize, sorghum and beans.  
The mathematical expression of this scenario has the following form:  
e
f
g
f
g
f
g
max 5 (-) = 56G1 14.5G2 25G3 13.5G4 18G5 23.5G ,  
1
6
e
ž
ž
ž
Ÿ
ž
ž
max 5 (-) = 36100G1 13295G2 21130G3 192881G4 29865G5 19245G ,  
2
6
e
ž

ž
ž
ž
ž
min 5 (-) = 32650G1 3705G2 23870G3 41119G4 15135G5 22155G ,  
3
6
e
f
f
f
g
f
f
min 5 (-) = 84G1 74G2 41G3 100G4 31G5 50G  
4
6
subject to  






Ÿ
3610G1 2620G2 3245G3 4765G4 2540G5 2365G - 3667300,  
6
g
g
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
100G1 100G2 100G3 100G4 100G5 100G - 105900,  
6
g
g
g
g
Ÿ
125G1 100G2 100G3 200G - 127125,  
4
e
f
e
e

1G2 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1145,  
6
(42)  
e
f
e
g

1G1 0.5G2 1G3 0.75G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
f
e
e

1G1 1G2 1G3 1.5G4 1G5 1G - 1525,  
6


e
e

e

2.167G1 2.167G2 2G3 2G4 2.167G5 2G - 2715,  
6
e
e
e
e
e
1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G - 1017,  
6
e
e
e
e
e
1G1 1G2 1G3 1G4 1G ¥ 1015,  
6
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
1G - 1G1 1G3 1G , 1G ¥ 1G2 1G , 1G ¥ 1G .  
5
6
5
4
6
3
f
ž
f
ž
g
ž
26G - 21611, 30G - 15255, 14.5G - 99156,  
1
2
3
g

f
ž
f
ž
15.5G - 6509, 28G - 15662, 20G - 12204,  
4
5
6
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G ) ≥ 0,  
1
2
3
4
5
6
ž
where 21130 = h21126, 21130, 21134; 21124, 21130, 21136i,  
ž
23870 = h23864, 23870, 23876; 23862, 23870, 23878i,  
ž
19245 = h19240, 19245, 19247; 19237, 19245, 19248i,  
ž
22155 = h22153, 22155, 22160; 22152, 22155, 22163i.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
58  
   
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
By solving problem (42) using the proposed method for the optimistic  
- = (409.19, 0.00, 277.16, 51.48, 51.48, 277.16), with details presented in  
variants of the problem, a compromise solution is obtained for ꢃ  
=
Table 16.  
0.8. The resulting compromised optimal solution for the third scenario is  
Table 16: Compromise solution of problem (42).  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
5 (-)  
646522  
0.38  
1
4
6
1
2
3
(409.19, 0.00, 277.216, 351.48, 551.48, 277.16)  
37405.40  
37428600  
29013310  
0.41  
0.24  
0.72  
0.10  
0.33  
0.28  
, (-)  
839162  
, (-)  
24741.61  
0.26  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
4
6
2
4
(409.19, 0.00, 277.216, 351.48, 551.48, 277.16)  
34106694  
106648  
405.86  
- = (G , G , G , G , G , G )  
, (-)  
, (-)  
, (-)  
1
4
6
5
8
(409.19, 0.00, 277.216, 351.48, 551.48, 277.16)  
894.23  
10692.22  
1015  
The required input resources to cultivate the crops under the allocated cropland are presented in Table 17.  
Table 17: Input resource requirements for allocated crops under scenario three.  
Crop  
Seed (kg)  
10229.87  
4157.44  
823.68  
1441.44  
5543.25  
(kg)  
(kg)  
(L)  
409.19  
277.16  
(L)  
%
2
=
(L)  
12  
22  
12  
22  
=
=
=
=
maize (2 )  
40919  
27716  
5148  
51149.35  
-
-
409.19  
277.16  
77.22  
51.48  
277.16  
1
sorghum (2 )  
27716.26  
pepper (2 )3  
10296.00  
77.22  
51.48  
277.16  
-
-
4
chickpea (2 )  
5148  
27716  
-
-
5
bean (2 )  
207.87  
6
Similarly, the considered problem under the three scenarios can also be  
solved for pessimistic and mixed DMs. The compromise solutions for each  
scenario under pessimistic and mixed viewpoints are presented in the upper  
and lower parts of Table 18, respectively.  
Table 18: Solutions under pessimistic and mixed perspectives.  
Scenario  
-
Z
1
2
3
1
2
3
0.40  
0.40  
0.40  
0.30  
0.40  
0.30  
(168.27, 0.00, 304.30, 84.61, 153.51, 304.30)  
(144.67, 0.00, 661.32, 141.05, 47.74, 67.97)  
(412.14, 0.00, 277.56, 47.74, 47.74, 277.56)  
(189.12, 0.00, 317.99, 72.76, 117.14, 317.99)  
(144.67, 0.00, 661.32, 104.06, 47.74, 104.95)  
(414.56, 0.00, 276.82, 46.80, 46.80, 276.81)  
0.4132  
0.4626  
0.4495  
0.4067  
0.4352  
0.4491  
Based on the obtained results, the arable land allocated to the six crops  
under the three approaches regarding the conventional pattern and the  
three scenarios is presented in Figure 5.  
(a)  
(b)  
(c)  
Figure 5: Allocated land area to the six crops under the optimistic (a), pessimistic (b) and mixed (c) perspectives relative to the existing pattern.  
Let - ̲, - ̲, and -  
̲
denote the compromised solutions for the first,  
non-membership degrees of the objectives for the pessimistic and mixed  
variants of the problem, are presented in Table 19.  
1
3
second, an2d third scenarios, respectively, under pessimistic and mixed  
views (Table 18). The objective values, along with the membership and  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
59  
       
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Table 19: Goal achievement under pessimistic and mixed perspectives.  
Pessimistic perspective  
Mixed perspective  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
4
1
5(X1̲)  
277241.77  
362105370  
283462070  
55064  
287191.63  
342095870  
283677430  
55719  
0.44  
0.45  
0.38  
0.34  
0.54  
0.40  
0.35  
0.31  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.02  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
1
2
2
4
2
1
2
2
4
2
5(X2̲)  
287452.80  
462965540  
303707130  
57780  
0.52  
291152.66  
402433450  
303115760  
55931  
0.58  
0.78  
0.34  
0.34  
0.86  
0.25  
0.41  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.21  
0.06  
0.00  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
5 (- ̲)  
1
3
3
4
3
1
3
3
4
3
5(X3̲)  
374703.45  
362717860  
283917350  
66314  
375383.86  
362566940  
283909570  
66329  
0.42  
0.00  
0.68  
0.35  
0.00  
0.38  
0.42  
0.00  
0.67  
0.35  
0.38  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
0.00  
Based on the obtained solutions using the pessimistic and mixed approaches (Table 18), the agricultural resource consumptions for the three scenarios  
under each perspective, in order, are presented in Tables 20 and 21.  
Table 20: Resource consumption under the pessimistic viewpoint.  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
1
1
1
1
6
1
7
1
8
1
31069167  
101500  
683386.55  
5484.73  
7500.80  
1057.30  
2245.60  
1015.00  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
2
3
2
2
2
6
2
7
2
8
2
36215277  
106274  
112424.80  
3427.28  
8556.96  
1133.26  
2254.39  
1015  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
3
3
3
3
6
3
7
3
8
3
33922348  
106274  
883821.33  
3496.91  
8597.87  
1086.61  
2433.60  
1015  
Table 21: Resource consumption under the mixed viewpoint.  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
1
1
1
1
6
1
7
1
8
1
31102109  
101500  
693990.82  
5444.27  
7545.60  
1051.38  
2235.20  
1015  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
2
3
2
2
2
6
2
7
2
8
2
35330270  
106274  
105027.60  
3408.79  
8584.70  
1114.77  
2254.39  
1015  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
, (- ̲)  
1
2
3
3
3
3
6
3
7
3
8
3
33899383  
106180.50  
883862.42  
3493.83  
8598.99  
1085.21  
2432.72  
1015  
The OCP obtained using the proposed optimization method was compared  
with existing patterns. Since the second scenario represents a commonly  
practiced farming system in the district, a comparison was made between  
the existing cropping pattern and the optimized plan under the optimistic  
approach for this scenario.  
29, 470.15@C; of yield was obtained under the existing cropping pattern,  
but this is slightly reduced to 29, 358.32@C; in the proposed approach. If  
we consider the remaining objectives, the total gain was 41, 510, 180ꢂ)ꢅ in  
the existing pattern, but it can be increased to 44, 088, 180ꢂ)ꢅ applying the  
proposed farming pattern. On the other hand, the cost of cultivation and  
labor force were 31, 413, 470ꢂ)ꢅ and 64, 160<3, respectively, in the existing  
farm plan, and these can be minimized to 30, 558, 420ꢂ)ꢅ and 57, 384<3,  
respectively, by employing the suggested farming pattern.  
As shown in Table 9, the area of land allocated to maize, teff, chickpea and  
bean in the existing situation was 221.03ℎ0, 141.41ℎ0, 62.29ℎ0, and 121.57,  
respectively, while in the proposed pattern, as presented in Table 14, the  
land area allocated to these crops respectively decreased to 156ℎ0, 0.00ℎ0,  
51.45ℎ0, and 74.57. The area of land allocated to sorghum and pepper in  
the existing situation was 401.33ℎ0 and 106.42ℎ0, respectively, while in  
the proposed pattern, the land area allocated to these crops respectively  
increased to 661.58ℎ0 and 122.85.  
Employing the proposed cropping pattern, the objectives are achieved  
with higher degrees of membership and lower degrees of non-membership  
compared to the existing cropping plan, except for the maximization of the  
yield target. However, in the existing situation, the production objective is  
accomplished at the cost of agrarian assets and the remaining goals.  
There are notable differences between the conventional farming system  
and the suggested farming plan in the usage of manpower, fertilizers,  
and agricultural machines; whereas there are slight differences in the  
usage of herbicides and pesticides. If we consider the fertilizer constraint,  
208, 591.20:, of fertilizer was required to cultivate 1, 054ℎ0 of farmland  
in the existing farming pattern, while the suggested farming plan requires  
216, 876:, of fertilizer to cultivate 1, 066.48ℎ0 of farmland within the two  
production cycles. To cultivate the allocated crops on the respective areas  
of land, 2, 392ℎAB (machine hrs.) were required using the existing plan,  
whereas the suggested plan require 2, 272ℎAB.  
In the conventional farming pattern, 991.76ℎ0 (96.00%) of 1, 033ℎ0 of land  
is allocated to five crops in the first round of farming, and 62.29ℎ0 (28.18%)  
of 221.03ℎ0 of land is allocated to chickpea in the second round farming.  
In the proposed cropping pattern, 1, 015ℎ0 (98.26%) of 1, 033ℎ0 of land is  
allocated to four crops in the first season of farming and 51.48ℎ0 (33%) of  
156ℎ0 of land is allocated to chickpea in the second round of farming.  
The results of the study showed that, including in the remaining scenarios  
and DM approaches, teff should not be included in the farming patterns  
in favour of increasing the land area for other crops to attain better results  
regarding all objectives and constraints.  
Comparing the obtained results of optimistic approach under the first,  
second, and third scenarios, Tables 12, 14, and 16, respectively, the following  
assessments have been made.  
A comparatively wide area of land is allocated to sorghum and maize, under  
From the allocated arable land in the existing farm patterns, a total of  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
60  
     
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
the second and third scenarios, respectively, while pepper and bean are  
allocated in a wide area of farmland under the second and third scenarios,  
respectively. In contrast, Chickpeas share the largest area of land under  
the first scenario. Considering the resource constraints, water and fertilizer  
consumption can be minimized by applying the first farming scenario,  
while herbicide and pesticide consumption can be reduced by applying  
the second scenario. Whereas seed utilization can be minimized in the  
second scenario. In the achievement of the considered objectives, enhanced  
overall production and minimum expenditure are attained under the third  
scenario. While the total gain is significantly improved under the second  
scenario and the number of manpower is sufficiently minimized by applying  
the first farming scenario.  
soil degradation unless resources are managed properly. All stakeholders  
need to take action, especially in reducing fertilizer use. For example, using  
manure and compost can help protect soil fertility, and practices like crop  
rotation can lower the need for herbicides.  
The study has numerous benefits in assisting the managers of LSF and  
farmers of the district for optimal management of agricultural resources. It  
also indicates the advantages of OCP to overcome the potential disaster of  
crops due to climate change and soil infertility. Furthermore, the study can  
be used to predict promising cropping plans from a long-term perspective  
as well.  
A proficient IFMOO model is proposed to address uncertainties and  
associated risks of agriculture, aiming to achieve sustainable crop  
production goals. Incorporating the risk management analysis model  
into the IFMOO model can increase the efficiency and applicability of the  
proposed approach to APP problems. Moreover, higher-order extensions of  
IFO techniques, such as hesitant IFO (Teferi et al., 2025), are also helpful in  
capturing the hesitation among DMs.  
Based on the results of the three variants of the problem, as presented in  
Tables 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21 there is significant variation in the land  
allocation to the six crops under each scenario. This proves the solution of  
APP problem is contingent upon the DM’s perspective. For example, in the  
first scenario, the land allocated to maize under the optimistic approach  
is reduced by 23.33ℎ0 and 2.48ℎ0, respectively, in the pessimistic and  
mixed approaches. Whereas the cropland allocated to bean in the mixed  
approach, respectively, decreased by 13.69ℎ0 and 47.09ℎ0 in the pessimistic  
and optimistic approaches.  
Data availability  
The detailed experimental data used to support the findings of this study  
are included in the supplementary information file(s).  
Acknowledgements  
The author gratefully acknowledges the Editor-in-Chief and the anonymous  
reviewers for their careful evaluation, insightful comments, and  
constructive suggestions. Their contributions have substantially improved  
the presentation, clarity, and scientific rigor of this manuscript.  
Conflict of Interest  
The author declares that he has no competing financial interests or personal  
relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.  
The total cost of cultivation and manpower goals are better minimized  
under a pessimistic approach, while total crop production and profit are  
better achieved under the mixed and optimistic approaches, respectively.In  
the second scenario, a relatively equal large land area is allocated to  
sorghum under the three approaches, whereas for beans, a wide area is  
allocated under the mixed approach, but this is reduced by 30.38ha and  
36.98ha under the optimistic and pessimistic approaches, respectively. The  
farmland allocated to maize and chickpea remains the same under the  
pessimistic and mixed approaches and differs by 11.33ha for maize and  
3.74ha for chickpea under the optimistic approach. In this scenario, the  
yield maximization target is improved under the optimistic approach, while  
the profit maximization target is better achieved under the pessimistic  
approach. In contrast, the cost and manpower minimization targets are  
enhanced under the mixed approach.  
Funding  
The author did not receive any funding for this research.  
References  
Ahmadini, A. A. H., & Ahmad, F. (2021). A novel intuitionistic fuzzy  
preference relations for multiobjective goal programming  
problems. Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems, 40(3), 4761–4777.  
In the third scenario, sorghum and beans share almost equal land areas  
under the three approaches. Moreover, a wide area of land is allocated to  
maize, with slight variations under the three approaches. The production  
and cost of cultivation goals are improved under the mixed approach, while  
the profit target is significantly maximized under the optimistic approach.  
Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D.,  
&
Smith, M. (1998). Crop  
evapotranspiration: Guidelines for computing crop water requirements.  
FAO.  
Amini, A. (2015). Application of fuzzy multi-objective programming  
in optimization of crop production planning. Asian Journal of  
Agricultural Research, 9(5), 208–222.  
Andrews, D. J., & Kassam, A. H. (1976). The importance of multiple  
cropping in increasing world food supplies. Multiple Cropping, 27,  
1–10.  
Angelov, P. (1995). Intuitionistic fuzzy optimisation. Notes on Intuitionistic  
Fuzzy Sets, 1(1), 27–33.  
Atanassov, K. T. (1986). Intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 20(1),  
87–96.  
Awulachew, S. B., & Ayana, M. (2011). Performance of irrigation: An  
assessment at different scales in ethiopia. Experimental Agriculture,  
47(S1), 57–69.  
Bairwa, S. L., Kushwaha, S., & Bairwa, S. (2013). Managing risk and  
uncertainty in agriculture: A review. Poddar Publication.  
Biswas, A., & Pal, B. B. (2005). Application of fuzzy goal programming  
technique to land use planning in agricultural system. Omega,  
33(5), 391–398.  
Water and fertilizer are fairly utilized under the pessimistic approach for the  
first scenario, whereas herbicide and pesticide consumption are minimized  
under the mixed approach.In the second scenario, water and herbicide  
usage are reduced under the mixed approach, while pesticide consumption  
is minimized under the pessimistic approach. In the third scenario, water  
consumption is significantly reduced under the pessimistic approach, while  
fertilizer and herbicide utilization are minimized under the pessimistic and  
mixed approaches, respectively.  
7 Conclusion and Recommendations  
In this paper, the APP problem is addressed using the IFMOO method from  
different perspectives, considering three common cropping scenarios in the  
study area. The resulting farming plans offer practical solutions aimed at  
reducing the overall vulnerability of six main crops in Abeshge district to  
various agricultural challenges.  
Carravilla, M. A., & Oliveira, J. F. (2013). Operations research in agriculture:  
Better decisions for a scarce and uncertain world. Annals of  
Operations Research, 219(1), 1–22. https : / / doi . org / 10 . 1007 /  
Chen, Y., Fu, Q., Singh, V. P., Ji, Y., Li, M., & Wang, Y. (2023). Optimization  
of agricultural soil and water resources under fuzzy and random  
uncertainties. Agricultural Water Management, 281, 108264.  
The comparison assessment made between the previous farming system  
and the proposed cropping patterns verified that the proposed farming  
patterns have several advantages for better achievement of the stated  
objectives and efficient utilization of agricultural resources.  
The existing farming system in the district relies heavily on capital and labor,  
often causing harm to the environment. If this continues, the area will face  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
61  
                     
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Cristofari, A., De Santis, M., & Lucidi, S. (2024). On necessary optimality  
conditions for sets of points in multiobjective optimization.  
Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 203, 126–145.  
Dessie, M., Woldeamanuel, T., & Mekonnen, G. (2017). Value chain analysis  
of red pepper: The case of abeshge district, gurage zone, south  
ethiopia. International Journal of Environmental Science and Natural  
Resources, 2(3), 1–8.  
management. International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences,  
6(15), 1062–1067.  
Nasir, M., & Hundie, B. (2014). The effect of off-farm employment on  
agricultural production and productivity. Journal of Economics and  
Sustainable Development, 5(23), 85–98.  
Nishad, A. K., & Singh, S. R. (2015). Solving multi-objective decision making  
problem in intuitionistic fuzzy environment. International Journal  
of System Assurance Engineering and Management, 6(2), 206–215.  
Ouda, S. A., Zohry, A. E. H., & Morsy, M. (2017). Cropping pattern modification  
to overcome abiotic stresses: Water, salinity and climate. Springer.  
Paudel, M. N. (2016). Multiple cropping for raising productivity and farm  
income of small farmers. Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research  
Council, 2, 37–45.  
Pawar, S. V., Patel, P. L., & Mirajkar, A. B. (2022). Intuitionistic fuzzy  
approach in multi-objective optimization for krbmc irrigation  
system, india. ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 28(1), 463–470.  
Pawar, S. V., Patel, P. L., & Mirajkar, A. B. (2026). Multi-objective optimization  
of the krbmc irrigation system using intuitionistic fuzzy approach  
with non-linear membership functions. ISH Journal of Hydraulic  
Engineering, 1–14.  
Rădulescu, M., Rădulescu, C. Z., & Zbăganu, G. (2014). A portfolio theory  
approach to crop planning under environmental constraints.  
Annals of Operations Research, 219, 243–264.  
Rasikh, Z. U. R., Joolaie, R., Keramatzadeh, A., & Mirkarimi, S. (2024).  
Optimizing the cropping pattern in nangarhar province based on  
the perspective of sustainable agricultural development: Fuzzy  
goal programming approach. Process Integration and Optimization  
for Sustainability, 8(4), 1119–1129.  
Duan, S. X., Wibowo, S., & Chong, J. (2021). A multicriteria analysis  
approach for evaluating the performance of agriculture decision  
support systems for sustainable agribusiness. Mathematics, 9(8),  
884.  
FAO. (2017). The state of food and agriculture: Leveraging food systems for  
inclusive rural transformation.  
FAO. (2022). Yield, production quantity, and producer prices annual  
FAO. (2023). Faostat statistical database [Accessed 2023]. https://www.fao.  
Gebremichael, A., Quraishi, S., & Mamo, G. (2014). Analysis of seasonal  
rainfall variability for agricultural water resource management  
in southern region, ethiopia. Journal of Natural Sciences Research,  
4(11), 56–79.  
Guo, R., Qiu, X., & He, Y. (2021). Research on agricultural cooperation  
potential between china and cee countries based on resource  
complementarity. Mathematics, 9(5), 503.  
Gupta, A. P., Harboe, R., & Tabucanon, M. T. (2000). Fuzzy multiple-criteria  
decision making for crop area planning in narmada river basin.  
Agricultural Systems, 63(1), 1–18.  
Haile, G. G., & Kasa, A. K. (2015). Irrigation in ethiopia: A review. Academia  
Journal of Agricultural Research, 3(10), 264–269.  
Kelbore, Z. G. (2014). Essays on the ethiopian agriculture [Doctoral  
dissertation]. University of Trento.  
Roszkowska, E., Jefmański, B., Dudek, A., & Kusterka-Jefmańska, M. (2024).  
IFMCDM: An R package for intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria  
decision making methods. SoftwareX, 26, 101721.  
Kis, T., Kovács, A., & Mészáros, C. (2021). On optimistic and pessimistic  
bilevel optimization models for demand response management.  
Energies, 14(8), 2095.  
Semu, M., Regassa, A., & Yitbarek, T. (2022). Characterization and  
classification of soils and land suitability evaluation for the  
production of major crops at anzecha watershed, gurage zone,  
ethiopia. Applied and Environmental Soil Science, 2022, 1–22.  
Sen, D. K., Datta, S., & Mahapatra, S. S. (2018). Sustainable supplier  
selection in intuitionistic fuzzy environment. Benchmarking: An  
International Journal, 25(2), 545–574.  
Singh, G. (2012). Factors influencing cropping pattern in bulandshahr  
district-with special reference to the size of land holding.  
International Journal of Scientific Research Publications, 2(5), 1–10.  
Singh, S. K., & Yadav, S. P. (2015a). Efficient approach for solving type-1  
intuitionistic fuzzy transportation problem. International Journal  
of System Assurance Engineering and Management, 6(3), 259–267.  
Kousar, S., Zafar, A., Kausar, N., Pamucar, D., & Kattel, P. (2022). Fruit  
production planning in semiarid zones: A novel triangular  
intuitionistic fuzzy linear programming approach. Mathematical  
Problems in Engineering, 2022(Article ID 3705244), 1–13.  
Li, M., Fu, Q., Singh, V. P., Ji, Y., Liu, D., Zhang, C., & Li, T. (2019).  
An optimal modelling approach for managing agricultural  
water-energy-food nexus under uncertainty. Science of the Total  
Environment, 651, 1416–1434.  
Li, M., Fu, Q., Singh, V. P., Liu, D., Li, T., & Zhou, Y. (2020). Managing  
agricultural water and land resources with tradeoff between  
economic, environmental, and social considerations. Agricultural  
Systems, 178, 102685.  
Li, M., Fu, Q., Singh, V. P., Ma, M., & Liu, X. (2017). An intuitionistic fuzzy  
multi-objective non-linear programming model for sustainable  
irrigation water allocation. Journal of Hydrology, 555, 80–94.  
LINDO Systems Inc. (2017). Lingo 17.0 user manual.  
Luo, J., Chang, Y. P., & Kaliyaperumal, K. (2023). A novel optimization  
approach for rural development based on sustainable agriculture  
planning. Energy Exploration and Exploitation, 41(5), 1724–1745.  
Singh, S. K.,  
&
Yadav, S. P. (2015b). Modeling and optimization  
of multi-objective non-linear programming problem. Applied  
Mathematical Modelling, 39(16), 4617–4629.  
Singh, V., & Yadav, S. P. (2018). Modeling and optimization of multi-objective  
programming problems in intuitionistic fuzzy environment:  
Optimistic, pessimistic and mixed approaches. Expert Systems  
with Applications, 102, 143–157.  
Singh, V., Yadav, S. P.,  
&
Singh, S. K. (2021). Duality theory in  
atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy mathematical programming  
problems: Optimistic, pessimistic and mixed approaches. Annals  
of Operations Research, 296(1), 667–706.  
Mahajan, S.,  
&
Gupta, S. K. (2021a). On fully intuitionistic fuzzy  
multiobjective transportation problems using different  
membership functions. Annals of Operations Research, 296,  
211–241.  
Smith, M. (1992). Cropwat: A computer program for irrigation planning  
and management (tech. rep. No. 46). Food and Agriculture  
Organization of the United Nations.  
Teferi, H. T., Feyissa, Y. K., & Aemro, Y. G. (2025). An effective solution  
approach for multi-objective optimization problems in a hesitant  
intuitionistic fuzzy environment. Journal of Fuzzy Extension and  
Applications, e236548.  
Tsegaye, H., Thillaigovindan, N., & Alemayehu, G. (2021). An efficient  
method for solving intuitionistic fuzzy multi-objective  
optimization problems. Punjab University Journal of Mathematics,  
53(9), 631–664.  
Wang, Y. (2022). Application of fuzzy linear programming model in  
agricultural economic management. Journal of Mathematics, 2022,  
1–13.  
Mahajan, S., & Gupta, S. K. (2021b). On optimistic, pessimistic and mixed  
approaches for fully intuitionistic fuzzy multiobjective nonlinear  
programming problems. Expert Systems with Applications, 168,  
114309.  
Mahapatra, G. S., & Roy, T. K. (2009). Reliability evaluation using triangular  
intuitionistic fuzzy numbers arithmetic operations. International  
Journal of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, 3(6), 574–581.  
Mirajkar, A. B., & Patel, P. L. (2012). Optimal irrigation planning using  
multi-objective fuzzy linear programming models. ISH Journal of  
Hydraulic Engineering, 18(3), 232–240.  
Mirkarimi, S. H., Joolaie, R., Eshraghi, F., & Abadi, F. S. B. (2013).  
Application of fuzzy goal programming in cropping pattern  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
62  
                                                                                     
East Afr. J. Biophys. Comput. Sci. (2026), Vol. 7, Issue. 1, 43-63  
Weintraub, A., & Romero, C. (2006). Operations research models and the  
management of agricultural and forestry resources. Interfaces,  
36(5), 446–457.  
Zeng, X., Kang, S., Li, F., Zhang, L., & Guo, P. (2010). Fuzzy multi-objective  
linear programming applying to crop area planning. Agricultural  
Water Management, 98(1), 134–142.  
Zerssa, G., Feyssa, D., Kim, D. G., & Eichler-Löbermann, B. (2021).  
Challenges of smallholder farming in ethiopia. Agriculture, 11(3),  
192.  
Zhang, H., & Georgescu, P. (2022). Sustainable organic farming, food  
safety and pest management: An evolutionary game analysis.  
Mathematics, 10(13), 2269.  
Xu, Z., & Cai, X. (2012). Intuitionistic fuzzy information aggregation. Springer.  
Xu, Z., & Yager, R. R. (2006). Some geometric aggregation operators based  
on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. International Journal of General Systems,  
35(4), 417–433.  
Zeng, L., Li, J., Zhou, Z., & Yu, Y. (2020). Optimizing land use patterns for  
the grain for green project. Ecological Indicators, 114, 106347.  
Teferi H.T.,(2026)  
63