Group multi-criteria decision making (GMCDM) approach for selecting the most suitable table grape variety intended for organic viticulture

When establishing a new vineyard, one of the major issues that have significant effect on successful production of high-quality grapes is choice of the most suitable variety. The large number of criteria that are necessary to be taken into account and the differences in their weight on the final decision allows the process of choosing grape variety to be considered as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. This paper presents a group multi-criteria decision making (GMCDM) approach for selecting the most suitable table grape variety intended for organic viticulture. The approach combines multi-criteria decision making methods with field test results, laboratory analysis and expertise from professionals in the subject. The following methods were used: the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method, Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Dong's et al. Cardinal consensus model. All these methods were used throughout different hierarchy levels, which enabled a closer adaptation of the methods to the actual problem of decision-making, a more efficient use of available data, and maximum observance of expert knowledge and experience. The approach was presented through the selection of the most suitable of four table grape varieties grown at Sremski Karlovci experimental field of the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad. Based on results obtained by applying the proposed approach and incorporating feedback from experts, it was found that this approach may improve the decision making process for selecting the most suitable table grape varieties for optimal production. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.