JÁNSKÝ, J.1, NOVÁK, P.1, LÉTALOVÁ, P.1
Key words: organic farming, cereals, growing techniques, economic effi ciency
Abstract
The paper deals with the impact of recommended growing techniques on the economics of selected fi eld crops, in particular with winter wheat. It was carried out in order to increase the competitiveness as well as the comparison with economic results in conventional system of farming, which can contribute to increasing share of cereals grown on arable land thereby meeting increasing demand for bio-products of organic origin in the Czech Republic.
Introduction
Growing of fi eld crops is an important part of plant production securing the main part of human nutrition. Nevertheless, fi eld crops could be possibly considered as ecosystems in which man is not only an important force, but for this kind of ecosystem also the necessary condition for its existence. Man uses fi eld crops so, that a signifi cant share of its energy, which the crops gain from the photosynthesis process, gets out during the harvesting from the place of rise and regulates the stream of energy into the places of need“ (Jánský, 2005).
The agriculture under the European conditions should be multifunctional, sustainable and competitive. Approximation to or achieving the sustainable agriculture demands: decrease of inputs, increasing the effi ciency of all used sources and stronger use of natural processes such as biological nitrogen fi xation, recirculation (recycling) of nutrients, prevention in plant protection and so on. These general principles must be realized with respect to specifi c conditions on each farm.
The system of organic farming, under appropriate scale and under selected conditions together with the observance of environmentally friendly or equilibrium rules in agro-systems is one of the ways, which could play an important role for a better sustainability of agriculture but with lower yields.
Materials and Methods
This paper is providing an overview of recommended growing techniques /technological processes of selected cereals in organic farming system. It is assumed that the achieved results
1 Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno, Department of Business Economics, Zemědělská 1,
613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, e-mail [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] internet www.mendelu.cz
contribute to increase the share of crops grown on arable land where the supply of organic production in the Czech Republic does not meet the demand and the possibilities of sale.
The methodology was launched in three partial steps (Jánský, Živělová, 2005):
Setting of recommended growing techniques and its economic evaluation for selected cereals;
Economic eff ectiveness evaluation of designed growing techniques on data from particular
farms;
Economic effi ciency based on a comparison of selected crops grown in organic as well as conventional
farming systems.
The paper is a partial output of a Research project of FBE MUAF Brno, (MSM No 6215648904) „Czech economy in the process of integration and globalization, and the development of agrarian sector and the service sector under the new conditions of an integrated marked“ as a part of thematic direction 05 „Social-economic context of sustainable development of multifunctional agriculture, and actions of agrarian and regional policy“.
Results
As an example, growing technique was proposed for winter wheat including its evaluation. Wheat is the most demanding crop regarding soil fertility and water accessibility out of all crops. It uses very good, deep and heavier soils with large water capacity. Very light or shallow and peaty soils are not suitable for wheat.
Winter wheat reacts the most sensibly from all crops to the crop grown in prior season, i.e. crop rotation is very important. Very good prior-crops for winter wheat are crops with wide leaf or crops fertilized with manure. For example these can be perennial fodder crops (besides the drier areas, where it can worsen the water regime for consequent crop). Other very good crops are pulse crops, pulse-cereals mixed with green crops, early and semi-early potatoes and corn for silage. These kinds of crops are important for the quality of winter wheat, especially concerning the amount of aleurone, which is important for determining the baking quality of pastry also for bio-food. The highest amounts of aleurone are after clover and pulse crops.
The overview of average costs per one hectare of harvested area while following above mentioned technological processes in system of organic farming is clear from Table no. 1.
It is clear from the structure of the costs that the highest share of costs is fi lled up with cultivation costs, which represents 44 % out of total costs (more in Tab. 1)
Tab. 1: Structure of average costs and revenues for winter wheat in system of organic farming
Indicator Costs per 1ha of
harvested area (CZK)
Indicator Costs per 1ha of
harvested area (CZK)
Seeds 1 765 Costs in total 10 442
Fertilizers 1 113 Gross margin 619
Other direct material costs1 210 Costs of major product (CZK/t) 3 829
Direct material costs in total 3 088 Per hectare yield (t/ha) 2,40
Cultivation costs 4 619 Average farmers’ price (CZK/t) 3 469
While comparing costs and revenues of winter wheat grown according to proposed growing techniques together with costs and revenues of sample fi le of organic farmers using recommended growing technology (shown in Tab. 2)2 it is clear that individual farms achieve very diff erent values.
Tab. 2: Costs and revenues characteristics for winter wheat in the sample fi le of organic farmers
Indicator Average Minimal value Maximal value Median
Seeds 1 787,60 750,00 2 440,00 1 600,00
Fertilizers 1 307,10 875,00 5985,00 1 859,00
Other direct material costs 35,00 0,00 520,00 24,00
Direct material costs in total 3 129,71 1 625,00 8 945,00 3 483,00
Cultivation costs 5 643,39 948,00 21 518,00 4 343,00
Indirect costs 1 618,16 x x 5 048,00
Costs in total 10 391,26 7 407,00 24 203,00 12 874,00
Gross margin - 443,46 x x 5 043,70
Costs of major product (CZK/t) 6 178,08 2 332,64 8 048,37 4 315,59
Per hectare yield (t/ha) 2,03 1,14 4,15 3,10
Average farmers’ price (CZK/t) 4 110,33 3 199,99 5 000,04 4 151,52
Total per hectare costs achieved by organic farmers are 3 972 CZK lower average value than companies in conventional system of farming. In the means of median it is less by 1 489 CZK. The main reason for lower costs is the absence of the use of chemical plant protection products by organic farmers as well as the use of farm-based fertilizers, which is shown from indexes3 in Tab. 3.
Diff erent per hectare yield is exposed into costs per one ton of grain. From the median in the level of 4 152 CZK it is possible to conclude that organic farmers are only partially selling the organic winter wheat as organic product. It is also necessary to consider the undeveloped market for organic production in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, the winter wheat seems to be unprofi table crop in the system of organic farming in present market conditions.
Tab. 3: Comparison of average costs and revenues of winter wheat for companies farming in organic and conventional conditions
Indicator Index Indicator Index
Seeds 1,64 Costs in total 0,73
Fertilizers 0,44 Gross margin x
Other direct material costs 0,08 Costs of major product (CZK/t) 1,44
Direct material costs in total 0,49 Per hectare yield (t/ha) 0,51
Cultivation costs 0,79 Average farmers’ price (CZK/t) 1,08
Indirect costs 1,19
2 i.e. plant protection agents, if the use is in conformity of organic farming law, other material
costs items excluding fertilizers, seed, which could be directly allocated to the crop.
3 The comparison index is ratio of individual costs and revenues items for wheat growing in organic and
Out of Tab. 3 it is clear that comparison index for total cost of winter wheat grown in organic and conventional farming system is less than one. It indicates, similarly as in other countries, that organic production is cheaper for cultivation (regarding cost for hectare). Indeed, if we evaluate the amount of per hectare yield of wheat grown in organic farming systems, which is 51 % of per hectare yield in case of wheat grown in conventional farming systems, it indicates that unit costs are obviously higher. The price of production is by 8 % higher for wheat grown in organic farming systems. Similarly for other crops grown on arable land, more details mentioned in publication Jánský, Živělová, Křen, Valtyniová (2006). If the comparison index for crops grown in organic farming systems in the Czech Republic is compared to other European countries, the situation is similar.
Conclusions
An important aspect that infl uences the decision-making of farmers to convert to organic farming is the economic results. For better awareness in this area it is necessary to compare the economic results of individual sectors in conventional as well as organic farming systems. This would help to get objective data for consequent decision-making about how to contribute to the development of organic farming. Especially important is organic farming on the arable land, which represents in the conditions of the Czech Republic 7,5 % out of total area of organically farmed land.
The result of this paper is setting of recommended growing techniques of selected cereals in organic system of farming. A similar analysis as it was carried out for winter wheat was also made within the research project for other cereals such as spring wheat, spelt, winter barley, oats, rye, triticale and some other plants grown on arable land (for more details see Jánský, Živělová, Křen, Valtyniová (2006).
The impact evaluation of recommended growing techniques on selected fi eld crops and the comparison with economic results in conventional farming systems was carried out in order to increase the competitiveness of organic farming. This can contribute to increase the share of crops grown on arable land and thereby meeting increasing demand for organic products in the Czech Republic.
References
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