creators_name: Eyhorn, Frank
creators_name: Mäder, Paul
creators_name: Ramakrishnan, Mahesh
type: report
datestamp: 2007-01-11
lastmod: 2009-08-20 14:35:35
metadata_visibility: show
title: The Impact of Organic Cotton Farming on the Livelihoods of Smallholders. Evidence from the Maikaal bioRe poject in central India
ispublished: unpub
subjects: 4plant
subjects: 1soilqual
full_text_status: public
keywords: Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Maikaal, Indien, organic farming, cotton, soil fertility, Bodenfruchtbarkeit
abstract: This research report analyses the impact of conversion to organic cotton farming on the livelihoods of smallholders in the Maikaal bioRe organic cotton project in Madhya Pradesh, central India. For that purpose, it compares farm profile data, material and financial input/output and soil parameters of organic and conventional farms over two cropping periods (2003 – 2005). The results show that organic farms achieve cotton yields that are on a par with those in conventional farms, though nutrient inputs are considerably lower. With less production costs and a 20% organic price premium, gross margins from cotton are thus substantially higher than in the conventional system. Even if the crops grown in rotation with cotton are sold without organic price premium, profits in organic farms are higher. In the perception of most organic farmers, soil fertility significantly improved after conversion. However, the analysis of soil fertility parameters in soil samples from organic and conventional cotton fields has shown only minor differences in organic matter content and water retention.
The research indicates that organic cotton farming can be a viable option to improve incomes and reduce vulnerability of smallholders in the tropics. To use this potential it is important to find suitable approaches to enable marginalised farmers managing the hurdles of conversion to the organic farming system.
date: 2005
date_type: published
series: Research Report
institution: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL) CH-Frick
refereed: never
citation: Eyhorn, Frank; Mäder, Paul and Ramakrishnan, Mahesh (2005) The Impact of Organic Cotton Farming on the Livelihoods of Smallholders. Evidence from the Maikaal bioRe poject in central India. Research Report. [ Unpublished, ]
document_url: http://orgprints.org/10362/1/eyhorn-etal-2005-maikaal-research-report.pdf