Technical efficiency as a determinant of conversion to organic farming

Latruffe, Laure; Nauges, Celine; Desjeux, Yann

Technical efficiency as a determinant of conversion to organic farming

2015

Latruffe, Laure | Nauges, Celine | Desjeux, Yann

Technical efficiency of farms under conventional agriculture determines whether farmsconvert to organic or remain in conventional farming. Efficient farms may be more capable ofadopting new technologies and therefore convert to organic farming. By contrast, choosing toproduce for the organic niche market may be a survival strategy for technically inefficientconventional farms.A study on French crop farms investigates technical efficiency during the years precedingconversion in order to predict the probability of conversion. The results show an influence oftechnical efficiency of (conventional) farms on the probability to convert to organic farming,but that the direction depends on farm-size and production-type.Another study on dairy farms from North West France considers the effect of (past)technological change on the decision to convert. Results show that dairy farms switching toorganic farming show a higher efficiency in conventional farming, but experienced aslowdown in efficiency the year before conversion.

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