Question

A farmer wants to decide which of the three crops he should plant on his 100-acre farm. The profit from each is dependent on the rainfall during the growing season. The farmer has categorized the amount of rainfall as high, medium and low. His estimated profit for each is shown in the table.

Rainfall	Estimated Conditional Profit (Rs.)
	Crop A	Crop B	Crop C
High	8000	3500	5000
Medium	4500	4500	5000
Low	2000	5000	4000

If the farmer wishes to plant the only crop, decide which should be his best crop using (i) Maximin (ii) Minimax

Answer 1

(i) Maximin principle

Max (2000, 3500, 4000) = 4000. Since the maximum profit is Rs. 4000, he must choose crop C as the best crop.

(ii) Minimax principle

Min (8000, 5000, 5000) = 5000. Since the minimum cost is Rs.5000, he can choose crop B and crop C as the best crop.