ABSTRACT
A source of Rational Choice model is found in rational choice and social exchange models developed in the behavioral sciences on the basis of concepts of scarcity and consumer behavior in economics. The social version of rational choice, applied to agricultural production, assumes that choices are made in a social field. The systems approach takes the point of view of the omniscient scientist who views physical and social components of resource practices as variables of equal strength and as subject to analysis with equal objectivity. The term "conservation" donates the need to control, stop or reduce something; hence carries the admission that human behavior is likely to exceed prudent limits with respect to the use of physical resources. The task is, then, to think about resource use and conservation with reference to key characteristics of human behavior, or to view technological and economic factors as forms of behavior.
