Investing in the long-term productivity of the farm

The productivity of a farm depends on several factors (e.g. farm output, production risks, costs of production, access to markets). This implies that the productivity of the farm can be improved through any of the following strategies:

• Increasing crop and animal products from the farm;
• Minimizing the potential risks to crop and animal production;
• Adding value in order to obtain better prices or accessing premium markets;
• Reducing production costs especially for farm inputs;
• Engaging in other activities to supplement farm income.

Adoption of organic farming helps to increase the chances of increasing the productivity of a farm through the following strategies:

The potential negative implications of drought, pest, disease or parasite damage and postharvest losses are minimised through organic farming. Organic farming encourages crop and animal enterprise diversification, building up soil fertility, and limited reliance on external inputs which together minimises the production and financial risks.

The income of many small-holder farmers mainly depends directly on the sale of the harvest of crops and/or animal products. If prices for these commodities drop, these farmers inevitably face problems. Even with steady prices, large losses can occur when yields suddenly drop, for example due to pest or disease incidence which could not sufficiently be controlled. Highly diverse organic farms with a range of crops will suffer less yield fluctuations. If one crop fails, another crop will be harvested to make up for the loss, and in case market prices fall, there is enough security from the other enterprises. Organic farms employ another risk management strategy of lowering production costs by substituting the buying of most off-farm inputs with on-farm inputs.

In organic farming, total farm production is primarily improved by using carefully selected and tolerant crop varieties and animal breeds, which give good yields under local conditions. Crop yields are also increased through better soil fertility, pest and disease management. Mixed cropping is often seen as a tool enabling more efficient use of space, nutrients and water, and as a result higher overall harvests.

Another approach to improve overall production is to intensify production. This is commonly done by increasing nutrient uptake, especially where soil fertility is limiting crop yields. Investment in compost production contributes to better soil fertility and plant nutrition. In case spare green biomass is available, integration of animal husbandry in the farm would result in intensification, as it provides meat, milk and manure. Animal production might be further improved by optimizing the diet, for example through introduction of leguminous crops to enhance protein intake and better housing to better control parasites and diseases.

Increased mechanisation may also be required when the land area under farming is enlarged. Otherwise, intensification might be achieved through the introduction of irrigation. If water is scarce, flexible sprinklers or drip irrigation might be a good strategic investment. Final production can also be improved by reducing losses during crop growth, harvest and in the postharvest process.

In order to increase the market value of the farm products, farmers can adopt different strategies:

• Adopting more profitable enterprises like vegetable production, dairy, poultry or piggery production, so long as feed and management requirements are suitable.
• Improving the quality of the products by investing in good storage facilities where produce can be stored to reduce postharvest losses and benefit from off-season prices, which are usually considerably higher.
• Implementation of processing and storage activities may go hand in hand with accessing new and better markets. Simple on-farm processing activities like threshing, milling, fermenting, grading, cleaning, etc., if well implemented, can increase the value of farm products. If the farmer can make more investments, bigger processing activities might be started such as food processing making jams, dried fruits, pickles or processing milk into butter, cheese, ghee, yoghurt, etc.
• Specific certification such as organic or fair trade certification, can give higher prices, especially on export markets.
• The type of market where the produce is being sold will influence the price. In many cases, farmers get exploited by middle men who pay unfair prices. If this is the case, direct marketing of products can be an option. To sell to big wholesalers, a regular supply of items is needed. A single farmer may not be able to provide a sufficient quantity to the wholesaler. Therefore, forming or joining an outgrower producer scheme may be a good option to access a better market and gain more power in price negotiations with traders.