Does Organic Farming Provide a Viable Alternative for Smallholder Rice Farmers in India?
Frank Eyhorn,
Marrit Van den Berg,
Charlotte Decock,
Harro Maat and
Ashish Srivastava
Additional contact information
Frank Eyhorn: HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, Advisory Services Department, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
Marrit Van den Berg: Wageningen University, Department of Social Sciences, 6706KN Wageningen, The Netherlands
Charlotte Decock: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Harro Maat: Wageningen University, Department of Social Sciences, 6706KN Wageningen, The Netherlands
Ashish Srivastava: Intercooperation Social Development India, Rural Economy Department, 500003 Hyderabad, India
Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-15
Abstract:
Smallholder rice farming is characterized by low returns and substantial environmental impact. Conversion to organic management and linking farmers to fair trade markets could offer an alternative. Engaging in certified cash-crop value chains could thereby provide an entry path to simultaneously reduce poverty and improve environmental sustainability. Based on comprehensive data from a representative sample of approximately 80 organic and 80 conventional farms in northern India, we compared yield and profitability of the main rotation crops over a period of five years. Contrary to the widespread belief that yields in organic farming are inevitably lower, our study shows that organic farmers achieved the same yields in cereals and pulses as conventional farmers, with considerably lower external inputs. Due to 45% lower production costs and higher sales prices, organic basmati cultivation was 105% more profitable than cultivating ordinary rice under conventional management. However, since holdings are small and the share of agricultural income of total household income is declining, conversion to organic basmati farming alone will not provide households a sufficiently attractive perspective into the future. We propose that future efforts to enhance the long-term viability of rice-based organic farming systems in this region focus on diversification involving higher value crops.
Keywords: farming systems; sustainable development; rural livelihoods; traditional varieties; system of rice intensification; contract farming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4424/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4424/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4424-:d:185691
Access Statistics for this article
Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu
More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager (indexing@mdpi.com).