Some influential variables that are import to
farmers in Northern Bangladesh regarding land use decisions
for farmlands, where such options are possible,
were explored in this study. A multi-stage sampling procedure
was followed to select the study area and the sampling
unit. We selected four sub-districts in Mymensingh
district, a suitable area in Bangladesh for freshwater fish
farming: Mucktagachha, Trishal, Phulpur, and Bhaluka.
The PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization
Method for Enrichment Evaluations) method was used to
remove the problem of simultaneously selecting all criteria
for land use decision-making, hence revealing the
effects of some important variables on decisions on land
use made by farmers. PROMETHEE model gave equal preference
to rice over fish farming after all criteria were considered
simultaneously. Although fish farming total return
was about 6 times higher than rice farming, farmers were
more interested in rice farming because of three major
influential criteria: it requires less labor, operates at lower
costs, and has zero conversion cost associated with rice
farming.