Effect of adoption of sustainable crop production systems on farm economics

Miroslava Bavorova (), Elena Ponkina, Nizami Imamverdiyev () and Norbert Hirschauer
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Miroslava Bavorova: Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Tropical AgriScience
Nizami Imamverdiyev: Martin-Luther-University-Halle-Wittenberg

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2020, vol. 22, issue 7, No 43, 6984 pages

Abstract: Abstract This study uses farm models to analyze the effect of farm size on farm-level costs of adoption of reduced soil cultivation systems. In an empirical study in the Kulunda Steppe in Russia, we examine the farm-level economics of three crop cultivation technologies: old Soviet intensive tillage technology (OS), modified Soviet reduced-tillage technology (MS), and modern Canadian no-till technology (MC). We consider economies of size by considering three farm sizes (small = 500 ha, medium = 5000 ha, and large = 15,000 ha). Based on the general approach to cost and activity accounting, we sequentially compute gross cost–benefit measurement to assess the economic performance of the different systems. The study utilizes two data sources: (1) experts’ estimates regarding the input requirements and yield impacts of reduced-tillage systems in the marginal ecosystem of the Kulunda Steppe and (2) market prices in 2014 and 2015. According to the model calculations, OS is inferior to MC and MS tillage systems in all farm sizes if we adopt a medium- to long-term perspective and consider residual income. If we adopt a very short-term perspective and consider only the difference between sales and direct costs, the MC tillage system would rank first across all modeled farm sizes. However, because farms in the Kulunda Steppe are heterogeneous, our results cannot replace management decisions based on farm-specific calculations that consider the conditions of the respective farm.

Keywords: Soil degradation; Reduced tillage; Farm models; Profitability; Russia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-019-00522-1

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