We employ the net present value (NPV) decision criterion in comparing
the economic profitability of alternative land uses. NPV is defined
as the difference between the sum total of the present value
of discounted benefit streams and the discounted value of cost
streams over the life of the project (Eq. (1)). According to the NPV criterion
projects with non-negative NPV are accepted and projects with
negative NPV are rejected. It is also the preferred selection criterion to
choose among mutually exclusive projects (Gittinger, 1982):