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Farm gate profitability of organic and conventional farming systems in the tropics

Riar, Amritbir; Goldmann, Eva; Bautze, David; Rüegg, Johanna; Bhullar, Gurbir S.; Adamtey, Noah; Schneider, Monika; Huber, Beate and Armengot, Laura (2024) Farm gate profitability of organic and conventional farming systems in the tropics. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 22 (1), p. 2318933.

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Document available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14735903.2024.2318933


Summary in the original language of the document

Systematic studies on the economic competitiveness of organic farming systemscompared to conventional farming systems are particularly lacking in tropicalenvironments. In tropical regions, the evaluation of organic production systemstypically concentrates on main cash crops earmarked for export markets.Consequently, crops grown in rotation or in association with these main crops havebeen largely overlooked, with their contribution to farm profitability is oftenconsidered negligible due to perceived challenges in securing premium organicprices. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an analysis of twelve years ofeconomic data from four long-term farming system comparison trials in tropicalregions. Our objective was to delve into the economic competitiveness of bothorganic and conventional production systems at the system level, considering notonly the main cash crops but also the associated and rotational crops. The outcomesof our analysis revealed that in three out of four systems, the gross margins oforganic and conventional systems were comparable. In the fourth system, the grossmargins of the organic system were 13.13% lower, equivalent to $169.8 per hectareper year compared to the conventional system. Furthermore, the contribution ofcrops grown in rotation with these main crops remains similar even when premiumprices are not obtained. In instances where premium prices for non-cash crops aresecured, their profitability can even surpass that of cash crops. Additionally, in thecase of agroforestry, companion plantings serve as valuable additions for both dietaryand income diversity. Thesefindings suggest that the profitability of an agriculturalsystem is not solely dependent on whether it is organic or conventional but isinstead influenced by various system components. The emphasis should shift from asingular focus on main cash crops to a more comprehensive understanding thatconsiders the entire spectrum of crops within a farming system.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:systems comparison, SysCom, long-term experiments, conventional vs. organic farming, Abacus, FiBL6524604, SysCom Program Phase V
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
long-term experiments
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4f8733aa
English
farming systems
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2807
English
profitability
UNSPECIFIED
Subjects: Farming Systems > Farm economics
Food systems > Policy environments and social economy
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Africa
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Bolivia
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > India
Research affiliation:Bolivia
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Society > Economics & market > Farm economics
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agroforestry Systems
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics > Long-term experiments
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics > Systems comparison
India
Kenya
DOI:10.1080/14735903.2024.2318933
Related Links:https://systems-comparison.fibl.org/
Deposited By: Unternährer, Anouk
ID Code:52265
Deposited On:11 Apr 2024 06:40
Last Modified:20 Jun 2024 06:21
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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