IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i2p272-d1039457.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of Interrelations Structure in Agro-Systems Using the Factor Analysis Technique (FA)

Author

Listed:
  • Zdena Krnáčová

    (Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Štefan Krnáč

    (METRA, Ltd., 841 05 Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Mária Barančoková

    (Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia)

Abstract

A model is not an exact copy of its original, but only its idealised reproduction that is simpler, more understandable, more accessible and easier, safer and more effective to work with. In the presented study, we used the technique of factor analysis (FA). We used 44 parameters to describe an agroecosystem, which proportionally describe the main components of the study agroecosystem. Based on Malinowsky error analysis, we extracted a 6-factor solution. We found out that Factor 1 [Climate factor] had primary factor loads in [average temperatures TIII-TIX (0.99) and [average atmospheric precipitation ZIII-ZIV (0.99)] variables. Factor 2 [Chemical parameters of geological foundation] was mainly saturated by [SiO 2 -G (0.92), Al 2 O 3 -(0.82), (CaO-G (0.83)] variables and secondary loads were observed in soil [SiO 2 -P (0.61], [CaO-P (0.64], [Al 2 O 3 -P (0.32)], [soil skeleton SKEL (0.47)] and [granularity GRN (0.39)] variables. Factor 3 [Phytomass production potential factor] had primary factor loads in [depth of soil profile DSP (0.76)], [quality of organic substances Q 4/6 (0.63)], [slopeness SL (0.67)] and [potential phytomass production PROD (0.65)] variables. In factor 4 [Physical-chemical soil properties factor] variables [Al 2 O 3, (0.81)], [granularity GRN (0.69)] and [SiO 2 (0.61)] have significant loads. Factor 5 [Erosion by water potential factor] has the highest primary loads in [large-scale arable land ALL (0.70)] and [soil loss as a result of erosion EROS (0.67)] variables, and secondary loads in the [continuous length of plot of land slope LS (0.53)] variable. Factor 6 [Biochemical properties factor] has the highest factor load values in the content of organic substances in soil [content of organic substances in soil H (0.69)]. Secondary loads can be seen in the properties of soil [GRN (0.35)], [SiO 2 (0.32)], [Al 2 O 3 -P (0.38)] and [depth of groundwater surface GWS (0.39)]. We determined the weight coefficients for the individual factors with the aim of quantifying ecological criteria with the obtained factor structure. The factor score F 0 determines the projections of the extracted factors for the individual elements of the selection (it is the value soil-ecological units—VSEU). Row vectors in this matrix represent the distribution of the individual factors for the specific realisation of the selection (spatial distribution). We re-scaled the obtained values of the factor score into seven categories and projected them into VSEU units. We could propose a sustainable agroecosystem management based on quantifying the ecological criteria for each VSEU unit.

Suggested Citation

  • Zdena Krnáčová & Štefan Krnáč & Mária Barančoková, 2023. "Analysis of Interrelations Structure in Agro-Systems Using the Factor Analysis Technique (FA)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-26, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:272-:d:1039457
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/272/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/272/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ali Asghar Aliloo & Sharhryar Dashti, 2021. "Rural sustainability assessment using a combination of multi-criteria decision making and factor analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 6323-6336, April.
    2. Thomas L. Saaty, 2013. "The Modern Science of Multicriteria Decision Making and Its Practical Applications: The AHP/ANP Approach," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 1101-1118, October.
    3. Belcher, K. W. & Boehm, M. M. & Fulton, M. E., 2004. "Agroecosystem sustainability: a system simulation model approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 225-241, February.
    4. Mauro Agnoletti & Leonardo Conti & Lorenza Frezza & Antonio Santoro, 2015. "Territorial Analysis of the Agricultural Terraced Landscapes of Tuscany (Italy): Preliminary Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Radoslava Kanianska & Jana Jaďuďová & Jarmila Makovníková & Miriam Kizeková, 2016. "Assessment of Relationships between Earthworms and Soil Abiotic and Biotic Factors as a Tool in Sustainable Agricultural," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-14, September.
    6. Roderick McDonald, 1962. "A note on the derivation of the general latent class model," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 27(2), pages 203-206, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jelena Lukić & Mirjana Misita & Dragan D. Milanović & Ankica Borota-Tišma & Aleksandra Janković, 2022. "Determining the Risk Level in Client Analysis by Applying Fuzzy Logic in Insurance Sector," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Alieh Abadi & Mehdi Khakzand, 2022. "Extracting the qualitative dimensions of agritourism for the sustainable development of Charqoli village in Iran: the promotion of vernacular entrepreneurship and environment-oriented preservation per," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12609-12671, November.
    3. Hongxing Liu & Wendong Zhang & Elena Irwin & Jeffrey Kast & Noel Aloysius & Jay Martin & Margaret Kalcic, 2020. "Best Management Practices and Nutrient Reduction: An Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Model of the Western Lake Erie Basin," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(4), pages 510-530.
    4. Luo, Xu & Ge, Zhexue & Zhang, ShiGang & Yang, Yongmin, 2021. "A method for the maintainability evaluation at design stage using maintainability design attributes," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    5. Parham Fami Tafreshi & Mohammad Hasan Aghdaie & Majid Behzadian & Mahdieh Ghani Abadi, 2016. "Developing a Group Decision Support System for Advertising Media Evaluation: A Case in the Middle East," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 1021-1048, September.
    6. García-Ruiz, J.M. & Lasanta, T. & Nadal-Romero, E. & Lana-Renault, N. & Álvarez-Farizo, B., 2020. "Rewilding and restoring cultural landscapes in Mediterranean mountains: Opportunities and challenges," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Aleksandar Aleksić & Danijela Tadić, 2023. "Industrial and Management Applications of Type-2 Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Techniques Extended with Type-2 Fuzzy Sets from 2013 to 2022," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, May.
    8. Olga Porro & Francesc Pardo-Bosch & Núria Agell & Mónica Sánchez, 2020. "Understanding Location Decisions of Energy Multinational Enterprises within the European Smart Cities’ Context: An Integrated AHP and Extended Fuzzy Linguistic TOPSIS Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, May.
    9. Yuan-Wei Du & Yi-Pin Fan, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Agricultural Sustainability Assessment: A Study across 30 Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, June.
    10. Aris Sudomo & Budi Leksono & Hesti Lestari Tata & Anita Apriliani Dwi Rahayu & Aziz Umroni & Heny Rianawati & Asmaliyah & Krisnawati & Ali Setyayudi & Marcellinus Mandira Budi Utomo & Levina Augusta G, 2023. "Can Agroforestry Contribute to Food and Livelihood Security for Indonesia’s Smallholders in the Climate Change Era?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-25, September.
    11. Targetti, Stefano & Schaller, Lena L. & Kantelhardt, Jochen, 2021. "A fuzzy cognitive mapping approach for the assessment of public-goods governance in agricultural landscapes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. Pengyun Chong & Hui Yin & Chaofeng Wang & Pengcheng Wang & Linqing Li & Di Wu & Jingwei Li & Dong Ding, 2022. "Evaluation of Social Stability Risk of Adjusting Goods Vehicle Calculation Method Based on Optimal Combination Weighting—Cloud Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Shuyang Yu & Dan Wang, 2022. "Quantitative SWOT Analysis on Factors Influencing the Sustainable Development of Non-Academic Education in China’s Open Universities: A Case Study of Beijing Open University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-24, October.
    14. Roderick McDonald, 1986. "Describing the elephant: Structure and function in multivariate data," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 51(4), pages 513-534, December.
    15. Hernandez-Perdomo, Elvis A. & Mun, Johnathan & Rocco S., Claudio M., 2017. "Active management in state-owned energy companies: Integrating a real options approach into multicriteria analysis to make companies sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 487-502.
    16. Umberto Di Matteo & Sofia Agostinelli, 2022. "Big Data Analysis for Optimising the Decision-Making Process in Sustainable Energy Action Plans: A Multi-Criteria Evaluation Approach Applied to Sicilian Regional Recovery and Resilience Plans," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    17. Karol Król & Robert Kao & Józef Hernik, 2019. "The Scarecrow as an Indicator of Changes in the Cultural Heritage of Rural Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-23, December.
    18. Madjid Tavana & Mehdi Soltanifar & Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga, 2023. "Analytical hierarchy process: revolution and evolution," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 326(2), pages 879-907, July.
    19. Guo, Jian & Luo, Cheng & Ma, Kaijiang, 2023. "Risk coupling analysis of road transportation accidents of hazardous materials in complicated maritime environment," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    20. Zhihong Zhang & Yali Wu & Vi Khanh Truong & Dongguang Zhang, 2021. "Earthworm ( Eisenia fetida ) Mucus Inspired Bionic Fertilizer to Stimulate Maize ( Zea mays L.) Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:272-:d:1039457. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.