A systems approach to analyze production options for wheat in India

Systems tools such as simulation models, geographical information systems, databases and optimization techniques can be used to understand dynamic interactions among components of a production system. They can quantitatively analyze the agro-ecological properties of different land evaluation units in terms of biophysical and socio-economic factors, and their interactions. In this paper, we illustrate this for determining potentials, constraints and opportunities for further increase in productivity of wheat, a major food crop, in different regions of India. The whole country has been considered as a mega eco-region and its districts as sub eco-regions because most planning is done following these administrative boundaries.