IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v7y2015i1p947-961d44818.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic and Financial Comparison between Organic and Conventional Farming in Sicilian Lemon Orchards

Author

Listed:
  • Filippo Sgroi

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Matteo Candela

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Anna Maria Di Trapani

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Mario Foderà

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Riccardo Squatrito

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Riccardo Testa

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Salvatore Tudisca

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

Sicily has a long tradition in citrus fruit cultivations that with vineyard and olive tree represent the main Mediterranean tree crops. In this paper we have evaluated the economic and financial sustainability of lemon production, both in organic farming and in conventional farming; the two systems differing just for inputs utilized in production process. Economic analysis has been carried out in a representative case study located in the Sicilian northwestern coast, considering an orchard economic life equal to 50 years. Results, which referred to one hectare area, showed both a higher economic and financial sustainability of organic farming respect to conventional farming. The higher profitability of organic farming was due to minor labor requirement and to greater market appreciation for organic products that granted a premium price respect to conventional prices. Moreover, greater profitability of organic farming and use of environmentally friendly inputs in production process make farms competitive and eco-friendly.

Suggested Citation

  • Filippo Sgroi & Matteo Candela & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Mario Foderà & Riccardo Squatrito & Riccardo Testa & Salvatore Tudisca, 2015. "Economic and Financial Comparison between Organic and Conventional Farming in Sicilian Lemon Orchards," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:1:p:947-961:d:44818
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/1/947/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/1/947/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tudisca, Salvatore & Di Trapani, Anna Maria & Sgroi, Filippo & Testa, Riccardo & Squatrito, Riccardo, 2013. "Economic analysis of PV systems on buildings in Sicilian farms," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 691-701.
    2. Aimee N. Hafla & Jennifer W. MacAdam & Kathy J. Soder, 2013. "Sustainability of US Organic Beef and Dairy Production Systems: Soil, Plant and Cattle Interactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(7), pages 1-26, July.
    3. Masakazu Komatsuzaki & M. Faiz Syuaib, 2010. "Comparison of the Farming System and Carbon Sequestration between Conventional and Organic Rice Production in West Java, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Testa, Riccardo & Di Trapani, Anna Maria & Foderà, Mario & Sgroi, Filippo & Tudisca, Salvatore, 2014. "Economic evaluation of introduction of poplar as biomass crop in Italy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 775-780.
    5. Szabó, Gábor G. & Popovics, Péter, 2009. "Possible Ways of Market Coordination and Integration in the Hungarian Dairy Sector," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 37(1), pages 1-20.
    6. Luanne Lohr & Timothy Park, 2010. "Local Selling Decisions and the Technical Efficiency of Organic Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-15, January.
    7. Crystal Snyder & Dean Spaner, 2010. "The Sustainability of Organic Grain Production on the Canadian Prairies—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Silvia Teizzi, 1999. "External Effects of Agricultural Production in Italy and Environmental Accounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(4), pages 459-472, June.
    9. Biing-Hwan Lin & Steven T. Yen & Chung L. Huang & Travis A. Smith, 2009. "U.S. Demand for Organic and Conventional Fresh Fruits: The Roles of Income and Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-15, August.
    10. Salvatore Tudisca & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Enrica Donia & Filippo Sgroi & Riccardo Testa, 2014. "Entrepreneurial strategies of Etna wine farms," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 21(2), pages 155-164.
    11. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Di Pasquale, Jorgelina & Contò, Francesco & Tudisca, Salvatore & Sgroi, Filippo, 2012. "Analyzing risk management in Mediterranean Countries: The Syrian perspective," MPRA Paper 49851, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Leo Paul Dana & Teresa E. Dana, 2005. "Expanding the scope of methodologies used in entrepreneurship research," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1), pages 79-88.
    13. García-Ponce, E. & Gómez-Macpherson, H. & Diallo, O. & Djibril, M. & Baba, C. & Porcel, O. & Mathieu, B. & Comas, J. & Mateos, L. & Connor, D.J., 2013. "Contribution of sorghum to productivity of small-holder irrigation schemes: On-farm research in the Senegal River Valley, Mauritania," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 72-82.
    14. Messineo, Antonio & Volpe, Roberto & Marvuglia, Antonino, 2012. "Ligno-cellulosic biomass exploitation for power generation: A case study in sicily," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 613-625.
    15. Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Riccardo Testa & Riccardo Squatrito, 2014. "Efficacy and Efficiency of Italian Energy Policy: The Case of PV Systems in Greenhouse Farms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-17, June.
    16. Salvatore Ceccarelli, 2014. "GM Crops, Organic Agriculture and Breeding for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-14, July.
    17. Antonio Messineo & Domenico Panno & Roberto Volpe, 2012. "Technical and Economical Feasibility of Biomass Use for Power Generation in Sicily," International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information Systems (IJAEIS), IGI Global, vol. 3(1), pages 40-50, January.
    18. Riccardo Squatrito & Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Riccardo Testa, 2014. "Post Feed-in Scheme Photovoltaic System Feasibility Evaluation in Italy: Sicilian Case Studies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-19, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Irwa Issa & Ulrich Hamm, 2017. "Adoption of Organic Farming as an Opportunity for Syrian Farmers of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Structural Equation Modelling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Saem Lee & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Patrick Poppenborg & Hio-Jung Shin & Thomas Koellner, 2016. "Conventional, Partially Converted and Environmentally Friendly Farming in South Korea: Profitability and Factors Affecting Farmers’ Choice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Giuseppe Bonazzi & Mattia Iotti, 2016. "Evaluation of Investment in Renovation to Increase the Quality of Buildings: A Specific Discounted Cash Flow ( DCF ) Approach of Appraisal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Sardaro, Ruggiero & Bozzo, Francesco & Petrillo, Francesco & Fucilli, Vincenzo, 2017. "Measuring the financial sustainability of vine landraces for better conservation programmes of Mediterranean agro-biodiversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 160-167.
    5. Sgroi, Filippo & Foderà, Mario & Trapani, Anna Maria Di & Tudisca, Salvatore & Testa, Riccardo, 2015. "Economic evaluation of biogas plant size utilizing giant reed," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 403-409.
    6. Josef KRAUSE & Ondrej MACHEK, 2018. "A comparative analysis of organic and conventional farmers in the Czech Republic," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(1), pages 1-8.
    7. Rebecca Buttinelli & Raffaele Cortignani & Gabriele Dono, 2021. "Financial sustainability in Italian Organic Farms: An analysis of the FADN Sample," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 23(3), pages 1-32.
    8. Mattia Iotti & Giuseppe Bonazzi, 2016. "Assessment of Biogas Plant Firms by Application of Annual Accounts and Financial Data Analysis Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-19, September.
    9. Tiffany L. Fess & Vagner A. Benedito, 2018. "Organic versus Conventional Cropping Sustainability: A Comparative System Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-42, January.
    10. Maurizio Lanfranchi & Carlo Giannetto & Angelina De Pascale & Remus Ion Hornoiu, 2015. "An Application of Qualitative Risk Analysis as a Tool Adopted by Public Organizations for Evaluating “Green Projects”," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(40), pages 872-872, August.
    11. Adrián Csordás & István Füzesi, 2023. "The Impact of Technophobia on Vertical Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, May.
    12. Hamam, Manal & Spina, Daniela & Selvaggi, Roberta & Vindigni, Gabriella & Pappalardo, Gioacchino & D’Amico, Mario & Chinnici, Gaetano, 2023. "Financial sustainability in agri-food supply chains: A system approach," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 25(2), October.
    13. Manal Hamam & Daniela Spina & Roberta Selvaggi & Gabriella Vindigni & Gioacchino Pappalardo & Mario D'Amico & Gaetano Chinnici, 2023. "Financial sustainability in agri-food supply chains: A system approach," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 25(2), pages 135-154.
    14. Beatrice Dingha & Leah Sandler & Arnab Bhowmik & Clement Akotsen-Mensah & Louis Jackai & Kevin Gibson & Ronald Turco, 2019. "Industrial Hemp Knowledge and Interest among North Carolina Organic Farmers in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Filip Hampl, 2020. "A statistical analysis of the financial performance of organic and conventional farms in the Czech Republic with respect to their size," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 66(1), pages 1-9.
    16. Luigi Roselli & Arturo Casieri & Bernardo Corrado de Gennaro & Ruggiero Sardaro & Giovanni Russo, 2020. "Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Table Grape Production in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-24, May.
    17. Osama Ahmed & Walid Sallam, 2020. "Assessing the Potential of Improving Livelihoods and Creating Sustainable Socio-Economic Circumstances for Rural Communities in Upper Egypt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-23, August.
    18. Juan Torres & Diego L. Valera & Luis J. Belmonte & Carlos Herrero-Sánchez, 2016. "Economic and Social Sustainability through Organic Agriculture: Study of the Restructuring of the Citrus Sector in the “ Bajo Andarax ” District (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-14, September.
    19. Eric Kiprotich Bett & David Michael Ayieko, 2017. "Economic potential for conversion to organic farming: a net present value analysis in the East Mau Catchment, Nakuru, Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1307-1325, August.
    20. Spiegel, Alisa & Severini, Simone & Britz, Wolfgang & Coletta, Attilio, 2020. "Step-by-step development of a model simulating returns on farm from investments: the example of hazelnut plantation in Italy: The example of hazelnut plantation in Italy," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 9(1), April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sgroi, Filippo & Foderà, Mario & Trapani, Anna Maria Di & Tudisca, Salvatore & Testa, Riccardo, 2015. "Economic evaluation of biogas plant size utilizing giant reed," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 403-409.
    2. Sgroi, Filippo & Di Trapani, Anna Maria & Foderà, Mario & Testa, Riccardo & Tudisca, Salvatore, 2015. "Economic assessment of Eucalyptus (spp.) for biomass production as alternative crop in Southern Italy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 614-619.
    3. Riccardo Squatrito & Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Riccardo Testa, 2014. "Post Feed-in Scheme Photovoltaic System Feasibility Evaluation in Italy: Sicilian Case Studies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Riccardo Testa & Anna Maria di Trapani & Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca, 2014. "Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca & Anna Maria Di Trapani & Riccardo Testa & Riccardo Squatrito, 2014. "Efficacy and Efficiency of Italian Energy Policy: The Case of PV Systems in Greenhouse Farms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Maurizio Volpe & Carmelo D'Anna & Simona Messineo & Roberto Volpe & Antonio Messineo, 2014. "Sustainable Production of Bio-Combustibles from Pyrolysis of Agro-Industrial Wastes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Testa, Riccardo & Di Trapani, Anna Maria & Foderà, Mario & Sgroi, Filippo & Tudisca, Salvatore, 2014. "Economic evaluation of introduction of poplar as biomass crop in Italy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 775-780.
    8. Federica Cucchiella & Idiano D’Adamo & Paolo Rosa, 2015. "Industrial Photovoltaic Systems: An Economic Analysis in Non-Subsidized Electricity Markets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-16, November.
    9. D'Adamo, Idiano & Mammetti, Marco & Ottaviani, Dario & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2023. "Photovoltaic systems and sustainable communities: New social models for ecological transition. The impact of incentive policies in profitability analyses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1291-1304.
    10. Domenico Campisi & Simone Gitto & Donato Morea, 2018. "Shari’ah-Compliant Finance: A Possible Novel Paradigm for Green Economy Investments in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-12, October.
    11. Zhi Li & Akira Yano & Marco Cossu & Hidekazu Yoshioka & Ichiro Kita & Yasuomi Ibaraki, 2018. "Electrical Energy Producing Greenhouse Shading System with a Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic Blind Based on Micro-Spherical Solar Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Donato MOREA & Marino BALZARINI, 2018. "Financial sustainability of a public-private partnership for an agricultural development project in Sub-Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(9), pages 389-398.
    13. Ovidio Rabaza & José Contreras-Montes & María Jesús García-Ruiz & Fernando Delgado-Ramos & Daniel Gómez-Lorente, 2015. "Techno-Economic Performance Evaluation for Olive Mills Powered by Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    14. Daniel Gómez-Lorente & Ovidio Rabaza & Fernando Aznar-Dols & María José Mercado-Vargas, 2017. "Economic and Environmental Study of Wineries Powered by Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems in Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, February.
    15. Andrea Colantoni & Danilo Monarca & Alvaro Marucci & Massimo Cecchini & Ilaria Zambon & Federico Di Battista & Diego Maccario & Maria Grazia Saporito & Margherita Beruto, 2018. "Solar Radiation Distribution inside a Greenhouse Prototypal with Photovoltaic Mobile Plant and Effects on Flower Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    16. Donato Morea & Marino Balzarini, 2019. "Bankability of a public private partnership in agricultural sector: A project in Sub Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 65(5), pages 212-222.
    17. Aquila, Giancarlo & Pamplona, Edson de Oliveira & Queiroz, Anderson Rodrigo de & Rotela Junior, Paulo & Fonseca, Marcelo Nunes, 2017. "An overview of incentive policies for the expansion of renewable energy generation in electricity power systems and the Brazilian experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1090-1098.
    18. Ludwik Wicki & Robert Pietrzykowski & Dariusz Kusz, 2022. "Factors Determining the Development of Prosumer Photovoltaic Installations in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
    19. Anna Maria Di Trapani & Filippo Sgroi & Riccardo Testa, 2013. "La filiera corta: una possibile strategia per migliorare la competitivit? dell?azienda agraria," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 15(2), pages 35-49.
    20. Testa, Riccardo & Foderà, Mario & Di Trapani, Anna Maria & Tudisca, Salvatore & Sgroi, Filippo, 2016. "Giant reed as energy crop for Southern Italy: An economic feasibility study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 558-564.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:1:p:947-961:d:44818. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.