Efficiency Evaluation of the Regional Network of Milk Production and Collection in the Central District of Hashtrood Township Using GIS

Spatial linkages in regional field form different networks and cause reciprocal interactions between rural settlement and the urban centers. These networks use complementary and various capabilities of different urban centers to form reciprocal interactions and convey the surplus of agricultural production to the urban points and markets. The milk collection centers and the milk production units create linkages between rural centers and the dairy industries. This forms the milk production and collection networks and connects the agricultural areas to urban industries. This research aims to use descriptive analysis methods for evaluating the efficiency of these milk production and collection regional networks. For this mean, data have been collected by documentary and field study. For examining the current situation, locating new stations, and optimizing and reforming the network, potential model and transportation model have been applied by considering decision support system and using GIS and GAMS software. The results of this research show that the network at the current situation faces some problems such as lack of collecting stations, low capacity of some stations for receiving the produced milk, lack of cover age fall villages in the network limits, low quality and long time access from the producing units to stations. Thus, according to the volume of the production and the capacity of the existing stations, for reducing the costs and following the standard rule of maximum distance between milking location and the nearest collection stations and decreasing its negative results, new station was located and the necessary changes were applied to the current conditions of the network through the change of flow transfer arcs to nodes.