The Effects of Diversification Activities on the Technical Efficiency of Organic Farms in Switzerland, Austria, and Southern Germany

Several studies have focused attention on the differences between organic and conventional farms in terms of efficiency, and controversial findings have resulted from these applications. One source of controversy concerns the assumption about the frontier(s) adopted for the comparison: a common frontier or two separate frontiers for organic and conventional methods? This paper aims to estimate technical efficiency in Italian grape farming. A stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was applied to a sample of 531 farms (440 conventional and 91 organic farms) collected from the Farm Accountancy Network Database. Among others, a test for evaluating whether a unique or separate frontier was performed. The findings suggest that organic and conventional farms would lie on a common frontier and that organic farms have greater capacity than conventional farms in using their own technical inputs (efficiency amounts to 83.6% and 77.8%, respectively). A number of implications derive from these findings.

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Technical Efficiencies and Yield Variability Are Comparable Across Organic and Conventional Farms

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12104271 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 4271

Author(s):

Amritbir Riar ◽

Lokendra S. Mandloi ◽

Ramadas Sendhil ◽

Randhir S. Poswal ◽

Monika M. Messmer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Technical Efficiency ◽

Formal Education ◽

Production Systems ◽

Germination Rate ◽

Decisive Role ◽

Central India ◽

Organic Production ◽

Organic Farms ◽

Conventional Farms ◽

Management Factors

Cotton is essentially a smallholder crop across tropical countries. Being a major cash crop, it plays a decisive role in the livelihoods of cotton-producing farmers. Both conventional and organic production systems offer alternative yet interesting propositions to cotton farmers. This study was conducted in Nimar valley, a prominent cotton-producing region of central India, with the aim of categorically evaluating the contribution of management and fixed factors to productivity on conventional and organic cotton farms. A study framework was developed considering the fixed factors, which cannot be altered within reasonable limits of time, capacity and resources, e.g., landholding or years of age and/or practice; and management factors, which can be altered/influenced within a reasonable time by training, practice and implementation. Using this framework, a structured survey of conventional and organic farms operating under comparable circumstances was conducted. Landholding and soil types were significant contributors/predictors of yield on organic farms. In contrast, landholding was not the main factor related to yields on conventional farms, which produced the highest yields when led by farmers with more than five years of formal education and living in a joint family. Nitrogen application, the source of irrigation (related to timely and adequate supply), crop rotation and variables related to adequate plant population (seed source, germination rate and plant thinning) were the main management factors limiting cotton yields among conventional and organic farms. Both organic and conventional farms in the Nimar valley exhibited a similar pattern of variation in cotton yields and technical efficiency. This study highlights the enormous scope for improving cotton productivity in the region by improving technical efficiency, strengthening extension services and making appropriate policy interventions.

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Technical efficiency and its determinants for Czech livestock farms

Agricultural Economics (Zemědělská ekonomika) ◽

10.17221/162/2018-agricecon ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 65 (No. 4) ◽

pp. 175-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vladimír Kostlivý ◽

Zuzana Fuksová

Keyword(s):

Organic Farming ◽

Technical Efficiency ◽

Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽

Stochastic Frontier ◽

Organic Farms ◽

Conventional Agriculture ◽

Frontier Analysis ◽

Conventional Farms ◽

Farm Accountancy Data Network

Organic farming has become an important part of Czech agriculture. The aim of this study is an evaluation of the technical efficiency of Czech organic farms and determining the main factors, including subsidies, which affect the technical efficiency of both conventional and organic farms. The Farm Accountancy Data Network Czech Republic (FADN CR) database provides sufficient panel data for this kind of research focusing on types of farming with livestock production. The methodological tool used to achieve the aim of this paper is the parametric stochastic frontier analysis, “True” Random Effects model, supposing farms heterogeneity and time variant determinants of inefficiency. The results of the research verified differences in the technical efficiency of organic and conventional agriculture related both to the different farming methods and to the production conditions. The type of farming and the economic size of farms influence the farms’ profitability, economic performance and comparability with conventional farms. The technical efficiency of organic farming is growing over the long term. Farms with growing technical efficiency show a decline in the proportion of operating subsidies to production, irrespective of their classification in quartiles by the technical efficiency estimate.

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Local Selling Decisions and the Technical Efficiency of Organic Farms

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su2010189 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 189-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Luanne Lohr ◽

Timothy Park

Keyword(s):

Technical Efficiency ◽

Organic Farms ◽

Selling Decisions

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Technical efficiency of organic pasture farming in Germany: The role of location economics and of specific knowledge

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s1742170511000330 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 228-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

S. Lakner ◽

S. von Cramon-Taubadel ◽

B. Brümmer

Keyword(s):

Technical Efficiency ◽

Stochastic Frontier ◽

Institutional Choice ◽

Organic Farms ◽

Green Party ◽

Regional Effects ◽

Stochastic Frontier Production Function ◽

Urbanization Economies ◽

Using Data ◽

Frontier Production Function

AbstractWe analyze the efficiency of organic pasture farming in Germany using data from 1994/95 to 2005/06. Five inputs and one output are analyzed by means of a stochastic frontier production function, allowing for heteroscedasticity and technical effects. Five sets of possible determinants of technical efficiency are considered in the model. These include: (1) farm structure and resources; (2) human capital and management capacities; (3) institutional choice; and (4) subsidies. To these factors that are commonly included in technical effects models, we add (5) a set of variables that capture localization and urbanization economies such as the share of organic farms in a region and the regional share of votes for the Green Party in recent elections. These regional effects are found to have a significant impact on the technical efficiency of organic farms. The evolution of efficiency on farms that are converting from conventional to organic farming is also analyzed.

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