An AHP-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework for Evaluating Hydroponics Adoption in Sustainable Agriculture in India

Abstract

This research evaluates the major factors affecting the adoption of hydroponics in sustainable agriculture practices in India, and it is conducted using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Data were collected using a designed survey of 35 participants, including hydroponic farmers, agricultural experts, and academicians. The survey was conducted to compare the relative importance of the major factors affecting the adoption of hydroponics. These major factors include technological factors, political and policy factors, environmental factors, social factors, and financial/economic factors. The results of the AHP method showed that technological factors had the highest priority (weight = 0.456). The major factors affecting the adoption in this category are the higher costs of setup and the technical knowledge required. The political and policy factors had the second highest priority (weight = 0.213), which implies the importance of government incentives and policy support. The environmental factors (weight = 0.152) highlight the importance of hydroponics for water conservation. The social as well as the financial/economic factors (weight = 0.066) indicated lower influence on the adoption of hydroponics. Sensitivity analysis validated the stability of the results.