A SHIFT to organic agriculture brings about significant change. First, the composition of the inputs changes. Together with a reduction in the use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, an increase of other inputs can occur, such as organic material, labour and machinery. At the same time, rotations change, affecting yields and yield variability, total production and income (both present and future). This, in turns, influences food security, and the environment. Those changes are often influenced by, and influence, social changes within the community. In all cases, farmers will want to evaluate five issues to determine their likelihood of success in organic agriculture.
Projects in the UNDP study (1992) showed labour requirements to be high on some organic farms, especially on plantations, as well as on those organic farms where labour-intensive methods were used, such as composting. In cases with a high opportunity cost for labour (such as on plantations), higher total costs in the organic projects were seen. In some cases, labour and total costs were lower on private organic farms. For example, Werf (1993) found that median labour used on the seven Indian organic farms was lower than on the non-organic farms. However, that was by no means true of all projects in which individual farmers were involved.
If compared to large-scale mechanized agricultural systems, organic systems appear more labour-intensive. This is especially true in areas with low ecological potential. Many techniques used in organic farming require significant labour (e.g., Zai planting pits, strip farming, non-chemical weeding, composting). In the developed world, labour scarcity and costs may deter farmers from adopting organic management systems. This is also true for cash-poor farmers and those supplementing their incomes with off-farm work.
However, where labour is not such a constraint, organic agriculture can provide employment opportunities in rural communities. Furthermore, the diversification of crops typically found on organic farms, with their various planting and harvesting schedules, may result in more work opportunities for women and a more evenly distributed labour demand which helps stabilize employment.
The timing of labour requirement is an important aspect of labour in developing countries. The question whether organic agriculture, with its tendency for diversification of crops, brings with it a more evenly distributed time of labour requirement, is yet to be settled. However, as planting and harvesting dates are not similar for all crops, labour requirements are likely to be spread out over the year.
Another important issue to consider, however, is not the quantity of labour, but the quantity of output per unit of labour, or labour productivity. While organic agriculture is likely to generate good labour productivity, the issue of wage depends on a number of other factors.
Other inputs used are seed or animal breeds, water and energy. The emphasis of crop seeds and animal breeds used in organic agriculture is on local suitability with respect to disease resistance and adaptability to local climate. Due to the change in soil structure and organic matter content under organic management, water efficiency is likely to be high on organic farms. Water scarcity and erosion of agro-biodiversity are indirectly addressed by organic agriculture since this form of agriculture relies mostly on endemic biodiversity that is resilient to local ecological stress (e.g., drought). Studies evaluating the impact of organic agriculture on water security and agro-biodiversity have not been available for this review.
In general, non-renewable energy inputs are used on organic farms. Standards for organic agriculture include environmental degradation as a criterion for acceptance of certain practices. However, there are many conventional farms where environmental pollution is kept to a minimum. In general, in developed countries, the financial cost of inputs (excluding labour) on organic farms can be lower than on many non-organic farms (see Lampkin and Padel 1994), although the magnitude differs between enterprises and countries. The difference is generally greatest in those enterprises where inputs can be readily substituted by low-cost alternatives, as fertilizers by nitrogen-fixing crops or green manure. For those inputs where substitutes are costly, such as labour cost for weeding (often in more intensively grown crops), differences in expenditure on input between organic agriculture and other systems tend to be relatively low, or costs on organic farms can be higher.
In the 21 projects reported in UNDP (1992), the input requirements generally shifted from off-farm to on-farm inputs or inputs available from nearby farms. In a number of cases, livestock became of greater importance to the farm than it had been. However, on a tea plantation, where many soil nutrients were applied, the cost was higher than on the non-organic part of the plantation.
Werf (1993) found the median variable costs on the organic farms in South India to be lower than on the paired non-organic farms, although five of the seven organic farms had higher variable costs (as calculated for all inputs, including those derived from the farm). However, some of the organic farmers adopted organic practices because the cash component of the input costs was lower on the organic farms (50 percent of the calculated cost as compared with 67 percent on High-External Input Agriculture - HEIA - farms). Other methods used in organic agriculture, generally to cope with soil fertility and pest management problems, were evident on the farms in this study. There was a higher diversity of crops and stock on organic farms (measured in number of crops per farm, number of trees per farm, and kinds of livestock on the farm). The number of techniques used to maintain soil fertility (such as deep rooting crops, use of farm-yard and other manure, night soil and compost), and to increase plant diversity (such as intercropping, hedges, alley cropping, cover crops, multistorey cropping) was also greater on organic farms.
Zemp-Tapang (1996) reported on the adoption of organic agriculture practices in Northern Ghana, in one area by an entire village. Her informants, growing mainly sorghum, millet, cowpeas, groundnuts, sweet potato and maize, stressed the importance of substituting fertilizer with organic matter (either in the form of crop residues or composting any organic material available locally).
The success of an organic farm depends on the identification of end-uses and/or markets for all the crops in the rotation, as few farmers can afford to leave fields fallow. This remains one of the most significant challenges in organic agriculture.
A factor which can also make a difference in yields is the time and length of the growth period of a crop. Due to slow mineralization of nitrogen under cool growing-conditions, crops on organic farms have a shortage of nitrogen early in the season. However, in countries where low soil temperature is not a limiting growth factor, as in many developing countries, this factor should not prove significant. The variability of yield and financial returns has been a topic of study in developed countries. Lampkin and Padel (1994), analyzing results of several studies, found no clear indication that the management system is a major factor in the degree of yield and financial variability. They hypothesized that exogenous factors (such as climate) are more likely to be important in this regard.
A growing number of success stories are being recorded. Stable, high yields under organic management were also recorded in the Philippines, where Padilla (1991) found rice yields of 6.1 ton per hectare on Bontoc irrigated rice terraces, without the use of modern cultivars, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Ten years earlier a similar yield (6.2 tons per hectare) was recorded by Omengan (1981; as reported in Padilla (1991)). This compares with 7.3 tons per hectare in IRRI's long-term experiments, including new cultivars and fertilizer (N-P-K:140-30-30) grown in the dry season (no indication was given about yields under irrigation).
Projects in UNDP (1992) showed a varied picture, where especially the export-oriented crops show low yields. Most of these projects were trader-initiated, and therefore possibly more assured of a output premium, so that optimal production was less important. An interesting case with relatively high organic yields was a tea plantation, where considerable resources had gone into the provision of organic matter with a resulting 11 percent increase in yield. This increase was not as spectacular as that reported in some other cases, for example in Burkina Faso, where yield increases in climatically good yields were reported of 10 to 50 percent, and in adverse years of three times that on HEIA fields.
Pretty, Thompson and Hinchcliffe (1996) show high yields for sustainable farming, defined as using low levels of external inputs. Apart from low levels of external inputs used, other characteristics of the projects from which these data originate included: group or collective approaches in production; an emphasis on farmer-centered activities and involvement of women as key producers and facilitators; exclusion of certain activities (such as temporary provisions of subsidies to "buy" the participation of local people); and an emphasis on value-added activities.
Experiences of organic production in ecosystems with low-productivity potential such as in Wardha, India, have demonstrated the potential to double or triple average yields through traditional management (Chetana-Vikas, 1996). The results are of course due to very low initial yields on these lands but such conditions correspond to many countries of the developing world. If similar results were to be achieved in the less endowed regions of the world, present food deficits could be partly resolved. In any case, increased yields are more likely to be achieved if the departure point is a traditional system, even if degraded, rather than a modern system.
In situations where inputs are subsidized, as fertilizers and pesticides have been in a number of developing countries, the financial returns on organic farms may not be as attractive. Similarly, not counting the environmental and health costs of such inputs as is generally the case, means that organic agriculture is under-valued. It should be realized that, during the conversion process, yields may be lower and investments higher than at a later stage when the organic farm has been established. The net returns to farming can therefore be lower in such a period than later. In the UNDP study several of the case studies were still in the conversion stage.
2. In the UNDP study (1992) results on the net returns to farming are somewhat mixed. Out of the 11 projects, 9 show an increase in net income on the organic enterprises, and 2 a decrease. When premiums are deducted, 5 of the 11 organic projects showed higher net returns than non-organic farms. Werf (1993) found the median gross income (calculated on the basis of all products, including those consumed domestically, and based on local, non-premium, prices) to be higher for non-organic farms than for the organic farms, although 4 of the 7 organic farms had a higher gross income per hectare than their neighbour. However, those organic farmers also had higher variable costs per hectare (as mentioned above), which led to a median gross margin (gross income minus variable costs) lower for organic farms. The median net cash income per hectare (gross margin minus fixed costs) and the returns per person day were higher on organic farms. Five organic farmers had a higher net income per hectare than their neighbour.
Lampkin, N. and Padel, S. (1994), The Economics of Organic agriculture - An International Perspective, CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
Padilla, H. (1991). 'The Bontoc rice terraces: high and stable yields', I.L.E.I.A. Newsletter, 7(1-2), pp.4-6.
Pretty, J., Thompson, J. and Hinchcliffe, F. (1996), 'Sustainable Agriculture: Impacts on Food Production and Challenges for Food Security', Gatekeeper Series No.60, International Institute for Environment and Development, London.
UNDP (1992), Benefits of Diversity, United Nations Development Programme, New York.
Werf, E. v. d. (1993). Agronomic and economic potential of sustainable agriculture in South India. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 8(4), pp.185-191.
Wynen, E. (1994), 'Bio-dynamic and conventional dairy farming in Victoria: a financial comparison'. Appendix 6 in: D. Small, J. McDonald and B. Wales, Alternative farming practices applicable to the dairy industry, Victorian Department of Agriculture (Kyabram) and the Dairy Research and Development Corporation (Melbourne).
Zemp-Tapang, H. (1996), 'Organic agriculture in Northern Ghana', I.L.E.I.A. Newsl. 12(3), pp.30-31.
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