Simulation-based economic feasibility analysis of grafting technology for propagation operation

Grafting is a promising technology used in propagation operation for producing vegetable seedlings with soil-borne diseases resistance and high vegetable yield potential. However, grafting incurs higher costs than alternative approaches. The purpose of this research is to analyze the economic feasibility of adopting grafting technology under various future scenarios via discrete-event simulation. To this end, six metrics are first proposed for various sub-systems within the vegetable supply chain, including Logistics Support for logistics system, Seeds Supply for seeds production system, Grafting Cost for propagation operation system, Vegetable Cost, Vegetable Yield and Vegetable Quality for vegetable production system. The factors impacting those metrics are then identified. The feasibility value is measured using metric values and limits in an integral manner. Flexible discrete-event simulation models are constructed to simulate grafting process and vegetable production under various scenarios. Experiments are then conducted using the constructed simulations based on a 2⁶ factorial design, and a regression model is developed based on significant factors obtained from the ANOVA analysis. Experiments reveal that Work Unit Cost, Facility Cost, Seedling Cost and Disease Control Cost are important factors for economic feasibility, and the desirable levels for those factors are also obtained.