The research objectives presented in this paper are to assess the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rural tourism offer and to recommend a course of action for its development based on the model’s data that was gathered from subject-matter experts. In this paper, the multicriteria analysis method DEX (Decision EXpert) was utilized to assess the capacity of rural tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and to obtain the results. All establishments were rated “very good”, seeing that they made use of the natural beauty that BIH has to offer. The outcomes of using this model were used to generate suggestions for the long-term development of rural tourism in BIH. The contribution of the employed model is in the developed starting points for the advancements of rural tourism in BIH, and the proposed model presents a novel method for evaluating a nation’s tourism potential that could be used in future studies in other tourism-related fields as well. The limitations of this paper stem from the fact that not all tourist establishments were considered due to the lack of unified records for all of these establishments. The model used in this research, on the other hand, is applicable to all tourist capacities, which is an advantage.

The process of improving tourism requires prior determination of the existing offer, as well as assessment of the advantages and weaknesses of the given offer. Upon the analysis, it is possible to improve the tourist offer. This study examined ways in which agro-tourism can be improved, related to the foundation of sustainability. Methodologically, this article involves the use of expert assessment, additionally supported with fuzzy logic based on the fuzzy PIPRECIA and fuzzy MARCOS methods. Using the fuzzy PIPRECIA method, the criteria and sub-criteria were weighted, while the observed agro-tourism facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were ranked according to the applied fuzzy MARCOS method. The results of the application of the fuzzy PIPRECIA method showed that for experts the most important are economic criteria, then environmental, and the latter important are social criteria. The most important sub-criterion is the quality of services. Out of the six facilities in question, the most appropriate results are achieved at the “Šadrvan” rural household, while the worst outcome is exhibited at the agro-tourism facility, (rural household) “Kovačević.” Sensitivity analysis confirmed these results. The aim of this article was to evaluate the agritourism offer in BiH, taking into consideration these six agritourism facilities. Based on that, it is necessary to determine on what advantages to build agritourism in BiH, and what should be corrected in order to be more competitive. Based on the obtained results, the facilities management should determine which sustainability criteria would need to be improved, as well as on which criteria it is desirable to build a competitive advantage, aiming to advance the tourist offer.

The experiments were conducted in field conditions, comprising two maize hybrids and two methods of detasseling, in the period 2014-2016 in a randomised block design. The seed yield was 3.64 t/ha, as average for all the hybrids and the methods of detasseling. “Suanito“ yielded 2.88 t/ha while “MAS 26K“ yielded 4.41 t/ha. The highest yield was obtained in 2015 (3.81 t/ha), then in 2014 (3.47 t/ha), while the lowest yield was obtained in 2016 (3.12 t/ha). Manual detasseling resulted in the seed yeld of 3.94 t/ha, whereas a significantly lower yield was achieved with mechanised detasseling (3.34 t/ha). There was a highly significant interaction found between the year and the hybrid, the year and the method of detasseling and the hybrid and the method of detasseling, whereas there was a significant interaction between the year, the hybrid and the method of detasseling.

The goal of this research was to find a selection of green suppliers (GSS) that will, in the best way, help agricultural producers to apply green agricultural production using uncertainty in decision making. In order to avoid the possibility of uncertainty in the expert decision making, Z-numbers were used together with the fuzzy LMAW (Logarithm Methodology of Additive Weights) method and fuzzy CRADIS (Compromise Ranking of Alternatives from Distance to Ideal Solution) method. By applying Z-numbers and the fuzzy LMAW method, the weighting coefficients of the criteria were determined, where the experts, in addition to the criteria ratings, also defined the degrees of certainty in the criteria ratings they gave. The obtained results indicated that the criteria related to price and qualities are the most important during the selection process. To select the best alternative, the CRADIS method modified with Z-numbers and fuzzy numbers was applied. The results obtained by applying this method showed that suppliers A2 and A3 have the best characteristics and are the first choice for the procurement of raw and production materials. As part of the paper, the validation of the results and the sensitivity analysis of the model were carried out by conducting the procedure of comparing the obtained results with the results obtained by other MCDM methods and changing the weighting coefficients of the criteria. These analyses indicated that the model presented provides stable results. The conducted research showed how Z-numbers can be used to reduce uncertainty in decision making and how Z-numbers can be used with other fuzzy methods to perform GSS.

To achieve the highest possible agricultural production, it is necessary to procure the appropriate agricultural machinery. A tractor is the most useful machine in agriculture that performs various functions. Therefore, the selection of a tractor is one of the key decisions in the agriculture-production process. This study aims to evaluate heavy tractors for agricultural production in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since this is a selection between different tractors, which are evaluated using several criteria, the methods of multi-criteria analysis (MCDA) were used in this study. Five different methods were used to determine the weight of the criteria, of which a modified standard-deviation method is a new method used in practice, while the tractor ranking was performed using the CRADIS (compromise ranking of alternatives from distance to ideal solution) method. The results showed that the best-ranked tractor is A4, while the most deviations from the ranking occur when the entropy method is used. The contribution of this study is in the systematization of the methods for the objective determination of the criteria weights and the development of new methods to facilitate decision-making in agriculture and other industries.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (abbreviated BiH) has great potential for fruit production. BiH has over 1.5 million hectares of agricultural land. In addition, there are excellent climatic conditions for growing fruit. However, although there is a long tradition of fruit production in BiH, this production must be improved. This paper provides guidance on making decisions in fruit growing when there are multiple criteria. All criteria are divided into two groups: economic and technical criteria. The economic criteria are further divided into three subcriteria, namely: marketing costs, orchard construction costs and processing and transport costs. Technical criteria are divided into four subcriteria, namely: fruit, variety resistance, production characteristics and processing and transport. According to these, a multicriteria decision-making model based on linguistic values was created. In order to take advantage of these values, a fuzzy approach was applied. Using this approach, decision-making process is easier because decision making is tailored to human thinking. For the example of raising a new orchard in the area of Semberija, an evaluation of seven different varieties of pears was performed. This problem is solved by applying the method of multicriteria analysis (MCDA). To solve this research problem, the MABAC (Multi-attributive border approximation area comparison) method was used. Using the fuzzy MABAC method, the obtained results show that the Šampionka variety has the best indicators among observed varieties. In addition, the Konferans variety achieved good results, and these two varieties are the first choice for raising a new orchard of pears. The paper validates the results and performs sensitivity analysis. The contribution of this research is to develop a new model of decision making by using a new methodology that facilitates decision making on variety selection. This model and methodology provide a flexible way of making decisions in fruit growing.

The research deals with the market assessment of pear varieties in Serbia. Market assessment represents the willingness of customers to consume a certain fruit or a certain variety. This research applies a market assessment of pear varieties based on expert decision making. Together with the experts, the criteria and varieties of pears used in the research are determined. Ten criteria and six varieties of pears that are mostly grown in Serbia are used. Experts evaluated pear varieties based on linguistic values according to selected criteria. Based on these values, and using fuzzy logic, the weights of the criteria are first determined using the fuzzy CRITIC method (criteria importance through intercriteria correlation), and pear varieties are ranked using the fuzzy CRADIS method (compromise ranking of alternatives from distance to ideal solution). The obtained results show that the highest rated varieties are Konferans and Viljamovka, while the lowest rated variety is Šampionka. Sensitivity analysis confirms these results. The obtained results will help cultivators and fruit vendors to choose those varieties that will achieve the best market results. This study is conducted to provide guidelines for the use of fuzzy methods in marketing assessment in fruit growing.

The aim of the research in the paper is to evaluate the state of rural settlements in Brčko District with regard to the development of rural tourism. Together with the Tourism Department of the Brčko District, five experts from the field of tourism were selected and they evaluated the current state of rural settlements in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The evaluations were processed using the fuzzy approach with the SWARA (Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) multi-criteria decision-making method. Using this method, the weights of the used criteria were determined, representing the degree of development of conditions in rural settlements. The results showed that "rural facilities and services" are the best developed in rural settlements, while the criteria related to feelings and experiences are the least developed. Based on this research, it is possible to implement measures to strengthen certain criteria that have not been adequately developed in order to further improve rural tourism in Brčko District.

The main goal of paper is to rank the criteria that are important for the selection of the most favourable supplier of the agricultural company by applying a multicriteria decision-making model. Subject of the paper is the procurement of mineral fertilizer for sowing certain field crops. As a method of work, the author uses DEMATEL (The Decision making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method of multicriteria decision making. In order to bring the research as close as possible to human thinking, the fuzzy logic of multicriteria decision-making was applied in the paper. Method is an expert assessment and ranking by experts in the field. In addition to the group of economic and technical criteria, the paper also uses criteria related to sustainable development such as environmental management system, green product, pollution and waste control, recycling and eco-product design. Results of the research show that the criteria that are from the economic group are still assessed as the most important for the decision maker. Importance of the research would be in pointing out the increase in the importance of criteria, especially those from the sustainability group according to their importance in the coming period, and the possibility of applying modern decision-making methods.

Changes in the market, caused by globalization, have led to the fact that many companies needed to adapt their operations. In response to these changes, the concept of supply chain was developed to help companies from procurement to sales of products. This paper examines the effects of supply chains on competitiveness using the example of agro-food companies from the Republic of Croatia. The research was conducted through a questionnaire which included 188 agribusiness companies. The responses were systematized and statistically processed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis. The results showed that the effects of supply chains play a major role in determining the competitiveness of agro-food companies. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the effects of the supply chain in these companies in order to improve competitiveness and achieve better results of these companies on the market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of rural tourism in Republic of Srpska as well as to provide guidance and recommendations for the development of this form of tourism. The used model approach expert opinion and, on this occasion, the DEX method of multicriteria decision-making was used. With this model, an assessment of rural tourist capacities is carried out on a random sample of four tourist facilities. The reason for the results obtained in this way is that the observed facilities have adequately used the natural resources available to Republic of Srpska. In addition, recommendations and guidelines are given in order to further develop this type of tourism in Republic of Srpska. The presented model offers an innovative approach in the assessment of current and potential tourist facilities. For this reason, it should be used in future research.

The selection of sustainable suppliers (SSS) is the first step in applying a sustainable supply chain and sustainable production. Therefore, it is necessary to select the supplier that best meets the set sustainability criteria. However, the selection of suppliers cannot be done by applying symmetric information, because the company does not have complete information, so asymmetric information should be used when selecting suppliers. Since the SSS applies three main sustainability criteria, environmental, social, and economic criteria, this decision-making problem is solved by applying multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). In order to solve the SSS for the needs of agricultural production, interval fuzzy logic was applied in this research, and six suppliers with whom agricultural pharmacies in Semberija work were taken into consideration. The application of interval fuzzy logic was performed using the methods PIPRECIA (Pivot pairwise relative criteria importance assessment) and MABAC (Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison). Using the PIPRECIA method, the weights of criteria and sub-criteria were determined. Results of this method showed that the most significant are economic criteria, followed by the social criteria. The ecological criteria are the least important. The supplier ranking was performed using the MABAC method. The results showed that supplier A4 best meets the sustainability criteria, while supplier A6 is the worst. These results were confirmed using other MCDM methods, followed by the sensitivity analysis. According to the attained results, agricultural producers from Semberija should buy the most products from suppliers A4, in order to better apply sustainability in production. This paper showed how to decision make when there is asymmetric information about suppliers.

Decision making is constantly present in agriculture. Choosing the wrong variety carries the risk that the investment in terms of sowing does not pay off at all. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the variety that gives the best results. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to apply multi-criteria decision-making of available varieties, which is, in this paper, done on the example of hybrid varieties of rapeseed that were created by selection at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. By applying fuzzy logic, a novel integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) model is developed and rapeseed varieties were evaluated. For determining four main and 20 subcriteria, fuzzy PIPRECIA (PIvot Pairwise RElative Criteria Importance Assessment) method has been applied based on fuzzy Bonferroni operator, while for ranking alternatives fuzzy MABAC (Multi-Attributive Border Approximation area Comparison) method has been used. The results obtained using the novel integrated fuzzy MCDM model showed that the variety A2 – Zorica has the best results, followed by A1 - NS Ras, while the worst results were seen by the variety A5 - Zlatna. These results were confirmed using other five fuzzy MCDM methods. Sensitivity analysis—changing criteria weights showed the worst results in the variety A6 - Jovana, which took last place in the application of 18 scenarios. The presented model and the results of this research will help farmers to solve this decision problem.

The development of science and technology introduces new approaches in plant breeding and various methods to increase plant productivity. One of the latest methods is the implementation of an environmentally friendly technique of using a pulsed low-frequency electromagnetic field (PEMP). The paper presents the results of the influence of the electromagnetic stimulation of soybean seeds on grain weight per plant, weight of 1,000 grains and grain yield in different agroecological conditions. In the three-year research, in the period from 2013 to 2015, the soybean variety Valjevka was used, grown with different amounts of fertilizers (control - without fertilization, 750 kg/ha and 1300 kg/ha). Before sowing, the seed was subjected to PEMP stimulation in variants: control - without stimulation and alternating magnetic field stimulation (PEMP) with induction of 30 mT and exposure time of 15 minutes. The average grain weight per plant during seed stimulation was 11.53% (12.09) higher than without PEMP (10.84). The weight of 1,000 grains with PEMP was 155.99 g, which was 2.06% higher than the weight of 1,000 grains of the variant without PEMP (152.83 g). The average soybean grain yield for all three years of research with seed stimulation was 4.85% higher (3,481.25 kg/ha) than without PEMP (3,320.14 kg/ha). Stimulation of seeds with PEMP has economic justification given the growth of soybean prices on the world stock market. The results show that the PEMP treatment of soybean seeds can significantly affect soybean grain yield and counteract side effects such as drought and lack of fertilizers.

The main paper goal is to create an adequate trend model by applying a quantitative research method, i.e. trend analysis that will enable prediction of apple production in the Republic of Srpska for a three-year period (2019-2021). Trend analysis involved the use of linear, quadratic and exponential trend models. Prediction is based on data time series for the period 1998-2018. Gained results show that although the unstable production it could be expected the growth of total production and number of apple trees, while apple yields are expected to decline in the observed period. Obtained results can serve for strategic approach in further development of this sector of fruit production.