Composite Sustainability Index In Agriculture: An Application Of The Topsis Method

Abstract

This paper aims to estimate a composite sustainability index for fruit and vegetable producers in the micro-region of Toledo, Paraná (PR). A descriptive research was carried out, survey, with the application of questionnaires, of quantitative nature. Using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS) methodology, we seek to aggregate 16 simple sustainability indicators into three composite sustainability indicators, corresponding to the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability, as well as a total composite index sustainability for micro-region producers. The study sample consisted of 99 agricultural producers of fruits and vegetables from the said micro-region, who voluntarily responded to the proposed research instrument. After analyzing the results found, it was found that there is similarity between the indicators composed of the dimensions of sustainability, and it can be conjectured that there is no higher level of sustainability in any of the dimensions. According to the TOPSIS methodology, it was also found that the composite index of total sustainability of rural producers in the micro-region is farther from an ideal situation of sustainability and closer to a non-ideal situation, a conclusion that extends to the indicators composed of dimensions. In this sense, this work contributes as diagnostic information, for all agents involved with the sector, especially for agricultural producers, presenting aspects that can be addressed by alternative strategies with the purpose of increasing the level of agricultural sustainability in the micro-region.