The land cost of agrarian sustainability. An assessment
Highlights
► In this study we developed the concept of the land cost of agrarian sustainability. ► Improving the sustainability of farms often incurs additional costs for farmers. ► We evaluate the land cost of the organic olive grove with respect to conventional one. ► The agro-environmental subsidy is not enough to cover this cost. ► Organic farming can improve efficiency in land use with appropriate agrarian policies.
Introduction
In this paper we aim to develop the concept of the land cost of agrarian sustainability (LACAS) in practical terms, having already discussed its theoretical aspects in a previous essay (Guzmán and González de Molina, 2009). In doing so, we aim to demonstrate the usefulness of this analytical tool – to determine, for example, the state of an agroecosystem in terms of sustainability, or the additional costs incurred in financial terms by farmers when they incorporate sustainable management practices into their farms. It is a particularly useful tool for organic farming. Usually, organic farmers are at a disadvantage compared with conventional farmers. The reason is that the latter depend less heavily on land, as they import large amounts of energy and nutrients from fossil and mineral sources. At local or at individual farm level, from the point of view of productivity, a certain amount of land is required to obtain enough energy and nutrients to meet the needs of the production process. From the point of view of stability and resilience, biodiversity plays a crucial role not only in the control of pests and diseases, but also in the stability of yields.
To this extent, organic farming has to “pay” a cost in terms of land which is not paid by conventional farming. The growth rate of organic agriculture is encouraging (IFOAM, 2009). However, incentives for its growth, which are basically limited to a higher price tag for its products, do not appear to be sufficient. Government policies designed to support this sector should compensate for the land cost incurred by organic farmers to increase the sustainability of their farms.
This paper is divided into four sections, the first part of which summarizes the concept of land cost of agrarian sustainability (LACAS). In the second section, the sources and methodology used for its calculation are outlined, based on a case study: a comparison of olive growing in conventional and organic farming in southern Spain. The third section presents and discusses results and the final section states our main conclusions.
Section snippets
The concept of land cost of agrarian sustainability (LACAS)
Biomass production has always required the appropriation of a certain amount of land for the purposes of photosynthesis. This piece of land can be more or less extensive according to the specific soil and climate conditions of each agroecosystem, the capacity of the plants used to harness solar energy and the type of land management. Thus each way of organizing the agrarian metabolism requires a specific amount of land and, at the same time, leaves its distinctive physical imprint upon it,
Land cost and organic farming
The environmental deterioration of agroecosystems is a subject of growing concern for the international community and organizations such as the FAO (OECD-FAO, 2009). It is a deterioration which affects not only the productive capacity of agroecosystems, but also the environmental services that they provide. The FAO has also highlighted its concerns on this matter (FAO-REDLACH, 2004).
Organic farming has been proposed as a productive model to deal with these challenges. Sandhu et al. (2008) have
Study areas
Data on the management practices of organic and conventional olive growers was obtained via personal interviews conducted within their environment (at home, on the land and/or at the olive-oil mill), in order to obtain detailed information on management techniques, types of machinery and inputs used. The organic olive growers were selected according to how long they had been producing organically, as it takes time to establish management practices and to overcome a possible downward turn in
Calculation of land cost
Table 10 shows the land cost of the two scenarios considered.
Conclusions
In conclusion, for the land to take on these ecological processes which serve to boost resilience levels and maintain acceptable production levels, a land cost is generated which will vary according to the temporal and spatial configuration of the land and how the flows sustaining it are organized. Yet encouraging the multifunctionality of the land can help to reduce this cost.
Another conclusion is that an increase in direct subsidies for organic producers (agro-environmental measures) can help
Acknowledgments
This research has been supported by the European Commission (FAIR CT98-4288), the Education and Science Ministry of Spain (SEC2000-1777-CE and HUM2006-04177).
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