Please wait a minute...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2014, Vol. 13 Issue (10): 2299-2310    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(14)60786-3
Soil & Fertilization · Irrigation · Agro-Ecology & Environment Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Analysis of Differences in Productivity, Profitability and Soil Fertility Between Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems in the Tropics and Sub-tropics
 Te Pas C M , Rees R M
1、School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK
2、Carbon Management Centre, Scotland’s Rural College, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Download:  PDF in ScienceDirect  
Export:  BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      
摘要  Organic farming aims to stimulate soil fertility by avoiding the use of synthetic fertiliser inputs, relying instead on locally available natural resources. It is regarded by many as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming because it ensures higher biodiversity, restricts environmental pollution, prevents land degradation and is easy to apply for smallholder and subsistence farmers. Although widely practiced and studied in temperate regions, little is known about the potential overall benefits of organic farming in the tropics and subtropics. This paper addresses this gap by undertaking an analysis of the differences between organic and conventional agriculture in the tropics and sub-tropics based on an extensive literature review including 88 papers with 458 data pairs. The comparison is based on three main indicators: yield, gross margin and soil organic carbon (SOC). The differences between the organic and conventional systems for each of these main indicators is represented by the ratio of the value of the indicator in the organic system divided by the corresponding value in the conventional system. This was initially calculated for each data pair individually, and grouped by a variety of explanatory factors, such as precipitation, human development level, soil texture, crop type, organic input type, time after conversion and certification. The results demonstrate that under organic management, yields were on average 26% higher, gross margins 51% higher and soil organic carbon 53% higher than under conventional management. The highest yield increases in organic cropping systems were achieved in the least developed countries, in arid regions and on coarse soils. For gross margins, certification was the main reason for differences between organic and conventional systems. Certified farmers, mostly located in developed countries, receive significantly higher prices. Furthermore, organic farming in the driest regions results in higher profits than in other regions. Even though soil organic carbon was significantly higher overall under organic management, the results do not show significant differences when grouped by the explanatory factors. They do however suggest that the highest carbon sequestration potential occurs in systems that had a high level of inputs, in regions with 1 000-1 500 mm of rainfall and on clayey soils.

Abstract  Organic farming aims to stimulate soil fertility by avoiding the use of synthetic fertiliser inputs, relying instead on locally available natural resources. It is regarded by many as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming because it ensures higher biodiversity, restricts environmental pollution, prevents land degradation and is easy to apply for smallholder and subsistence farmers. Although widely practiced and studied in temperate regions, little is known about the potential overall benefits of organic farming in the tropics and subtropics. This paper addresses this gap by undertaking an analysis of the differences between organic and conventional agriculture in the tropics and sub-tropics based on an extensive literature review including 88 papers with 458 data pairs. The comparison is based on three main indicators: yield, gross margin and soil organic carbon (SOC). The differences between the organic and conventional systems for each of these main indicators is represented by the ratio of the value of the indicator in the organic system divided by the corresponding value in the conventional system. This was initially calculated for each data pair individually, and grouped by a variety of explanatory factors, such as precipitation, human development level, soil texture, crop type, organic input type, time after conversion and certification. The results demonstrate that under organic management, yields were on average 26% higher, gross margins 51% higher and soil organic carbon 53% higher than under conventional management. The highest yield increases in organic cropping systems were achieved in the least developed countries, in arid regions and on coarse soils. For gross margins, certification was the main reason for differences between organic and conventional systems. Certified farmers, mostly located in developed countries, receive significantly higher prices. Furthermore, organic farming in the driest regions results in higher profits than in other regions. Even though soil organic carbon was significantly higher overall under organic management, the results do not show significant differences when grouped by the explanatory factors. They do however suggest that the highest carbon sequestration potential occurs in systems that had a high level of inputs, in regions with 1 000-1 500 mm of rainfall and on clayey soils.
Keywords:  organic farming       conventional farming       tropics       subtropics       carbon sequestration       yield       soil quality       soil organic carbon  
Received: 06 January 2014   Accepted:
Fund: 

The authors would like to thank researchers from FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) in Frick, Switzerland, for their support, as well as the University of Edinburgh and the Scottish government for financial support.

Corresponding Authors:  Te Pas C M, E-mail: caroline.tepas@gmail.com   
About author:  Te Pas C M, E-mail: caroline.tepas@gmail.com

Cite this article: 

Te Pas C M , Rees R M. 2014. Analysis of Differences in Productivity, Profitability and Soil Fertility Between Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems in the Tropics and Sub-tropics. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 13(10): 2299-2310.

Badgley C, Moghtader J, Quintero E, Zakem E, ChappellM J, Avilés-Vázquez K, Samulon A, Perfecto I. 2007.Organic agriculture and the global food supply. RenewableAgriculture and Food Systems, 22, 86-108

Bai Z G, Dent D L, Olsson L, Schaepman M E. 2008. GlobalAssessment of Land Degradation and Improvement.Identification by Remote Sensing. Wageningen, ISRICWorld Soil Information, Wageningen.

Cobo J G, Dercon G, Cadisch G. 2010. Nutrient balancesin African land use systems across different spatialscales: A review of approaches, challenges and progress.Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 136, 1-15

Connor D J. 2008. Organic agriculture cannot feed the world.Field Crops Research, 106, 187-190

Crain C M, Halpern B S, Beck M W, Kappel C V. 2009.Understanding and managing human threats to the coastalmarine environment. Annals of the New York Academy ofSciences, 1162, 39-62

Donald P F, Green R E, Heath M F. 2001. Agriculturalintensification and the collapse of Europe’s farmland birdpopulations. Proceedings: Biological Sciences, 268, 25-29

Driessen P M, Deckers J A, Spaargaren O C, Nachtergaele F O.2001. Lecture Notes on the Major Soils of the World. Foodand Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome.Erisman J W, Sutton M A, Galloway J, Klimont Z, WiniwarterW. 2008. How a century of ammonia synthesis changedthe world. Nature Geoscience, 1, 636-639

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 1998. Evaluatingthe Potential Contribution of Organic Agriculture to Sustainability Goals. FAO’s Technical Contribution toIFOAM’s Scientific Conference. Food and AgriculturalOrganisation of the United Nations, Rome.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 2001. GlobalEcological Zoning for the Global Forest ResourceAssessment 2000. Forestry Department of the Food andAgricultural Organisation of the United Nations, Rome.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), WFP (World FoodProgramme), IFAD (International Fund for AgriculturalDevelopment). 2012. The State of Food Insecurity in theWorld 2012. Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations, Rome.

Freyer B. 2007. Traditional and ecological farming sytemsin (sub)tropical countries-history, interactions and futureperspectives. In: Hülsebush C, Wichern F, Hemann H,Wolff P, eds., Organic Agriculture in the Tropics andSubtropics - Current Status and Perspectives. KasselUniversity Press GmbH, Kassel. pp. 1-30

Gerbens-Leenes W, Nonhebel S. 2005. Food and land use: Theinfluence of consumption patterns on the use of agriculturalresources. Appetite, 45, 24-31

Gobat J M, Aragno M, Matthey W. 2004. The Living Soil:Fundamentals of Soil Science and Soil Biology. SciencePublishers, Enfield.

Halberg N, Sulser T B, Høgh-Jensen H, Rosegrant M W,Knudsen M T. 2005. The impact of organic farming on foodsecurity in a regional and global perspective. In: HalbergN, Alrøe H F, Knudsen M T, Kristensen E S, eds., GlobalDevelopment of Organic Agriculture: Challenges andPromises. CABI Publishing, Wallingford. pp. 277-322

Hartemink A E. 2003. Soil Fertility Decline in the Tropics;with Case Studies on Plantations. CABI Publishing,Wallingford.

IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development).2010. Rural Poverty Report 2011. International Fund forAgricultural Development, Rome.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).2007a. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation andVulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II tothe Forth Assessment Report of the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press,Cambridge.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2007b.Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution ofWorking Groups I, II and III to the Fourth AssessmentReport of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.IPCC, Geneva.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2013.Summary for policymakers. In: Stocker T F, Qin D,Plattner G K, Tignor M, Allen S K, Boschung J, NauelsA, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley P M, eds., Climate Change2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution ofWorking Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. CambridgeUniversity Press, Cambridge and New York.

Kirchmann H, Bergström L. 2008. Organic Crop Production-Ambitions and Limitations. Springer Science & BusinessMedia BV, New York.

Li H, Qiu J, Wang L, Tang H, Li C, van Ranst E. 2010.Modelling impacts of alternative farming managementpractices on greenhouse gas emissions from a winterwheat-maize rotation system in China. Agriculture,Ecosystems & Environment, 135, 24-33

Lotter D W. 2003. Organic agriculture. Journal of SustainableAgriculture, 21, 59-128

Mäder P, Fliessbach A, Dubois D, Gunst L, Fried P, NiggliU. 2002. Soil fertility and biodiversity in organic farming.Science, 296, 1694-1697

Mozumder P, Berrens R P. 2007. Inorganic fertilizer use andbiodiversity risk: An empirical investigation. EcologicalEconomics, 62, 538-543

Oades J. 1988. The retention of organic matter in soils.Biogeochemistry, 5, 35-70

Parry M L, Rosenzweig C, Iglesias A, Livermore M, Fischer G.2004. Effects of climate change on global food productionunder SRES emissions and socio-economic scenarios.Global Environmental Change, 14, 53-67

Pimentel D, Harvey C, Resosudarmo P, Sinclair K, Kurz D,McNair M, Crist S, Shpritz L, Fitton L, Saffouri R, BlairR. 1995. Environmental and economic costs of soil erosionand conservation benefits. Science, 267, 1117-1123

Pretty J N. 1995. Regenerating Agriculture. EarthscanPublications, London.

Primavesi A. 2006. Soil system management in the humidand subhumid tropics. In: Uphoff N, Ball A S, Herren H,Husson O, Laing M, Palm C, Pretty J, Sanchez P, SangingaN, Thies J, eds., Biological Approaches to SustainableSoil Systems. Taylor & Francis Group, Florida. pp. 15-26

Ransom B, Kim D, Kastner M, Wainwright S. 1998. Organicmatter preservation on continental slopes: Importance ofmineralogy and surface area. Geochimica et CosmochimicaActa, 62, 1329-1345

Scialabba N E H, Müller-Lindenlauf M. 2010. Organicagriculture and climate change. Renewable Agricultureand Food Systems, 25, 158-169

Smith P, Martino D, Cai Z, Gwary D, Janzen H, Kumar P,McCarl B, Ogle S, O’Mara F, Rice C, Scholes B, SirotenkoO, Howden M, McAllister T, Pan G, Romanenkov V,Schneider U, Towprayoon S, Wattenbach M, Smith J. 2008.Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. PhilosophicalTransactions of the Royal Society (B-Biological Sciences),363, 789-813

UNCCD (United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification). 2009. Benefits of Sustainable LandManagement. United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification, Bern.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2007. GlobalEnvironment Outlook 4. United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, Nairobi.

Wheeler T, von Braun J. 2013. Climate change impacts onglobal food security. Science, 341, 508-513.
[1] Lichao Zhai, Shijia Song, Lihua Zhang, Jinan Huang, Lihua Lv, Zhiqiang Dong, Yongzeng Cui, Mengjing Zheng, Wanbin Hou, Jingting Zhang, Yanrong Yao, Yanhong Cui, Xiuling Jia. Subsoiling before winter wheat alleviates the kernel position effect of densely grown summer maize by delaying post-silking root–shoot senescence[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3384-3402.
[2] Yuheng Wang, Furong Kang, Bo Yu, Quan Long, Huaye Xiong, Jiawei Xie, Dong Li, Xiaojun Shi, Prakash Lakshmanan, Yueqiang Zhang, Fusuo Zhang. Magnesium supply is vital for improving fruit yield, fruit quality and magnesium balance in citrus orchards with increasingly acidic soil[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3641-3655.
[3] Jinpeng Li, Siqi Wang, Zhongwei Li, Kaiyi Xing, Xuefeng Tao, Zhimin Wang, Yinghua Zhang, Chunsheng Yao, Jincai Li. Effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction on winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in the Huaibei Plain, China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2974-2988.
[4] Baohua Liu, Ganqiong Li, Yongen Zhang, Ling Zhang, Dianjun Lu, Peng Yan, Shanchao Yue, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Qingfeng Meng, Xinping Chen. Optimizing management strategies to enhance wheat productivity in the North China Plain under climate change[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2989-3003.
[5] Ziqiang Che, Shuting Bie, Rongrong Wang, Yilin Ma, Yaoyuan Zhang, Fangfang He, Guiying Jiang. Mild deficit irrigation delays flag leaf senescence and increases yield in drip-irrigated spring wheat by regulating endogenous hormones[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2954-2973.
[6] Xinhu Guo, Jinpeng Chu, Yifan Hua, Yuanjie Dong, Feina Zheng, Mingrong He, Xinglong Dai. Long-term integrated agronomic optimization maximizes soil quality and synergistically improves wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2940-2953.
[7] Yang Chen, Xuyu Feng, Xiao Zhao, Xinmei Hao, Ling Tong, Sufen Wang, Risheng Ding, Shaozhong Kang. Biochar application enhances soil quality by improving soil physical structure under particular water and salt conditions in arid region of Northwest China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 3242-3263.
[8] Hu Xu, Adnan Mustafa, Lu Zhang, Shaomin Huang, Hongjun Gao, Mohammad Tahsin Karimi Nezhad, Nan Sun, Minggang Xu. Comparing carbon sequestration efficiency in chemically separated soil organic carbon fractions under long-term fertilization in three major Chinese croplands[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2841-2856.
[9] Zhongwei Tian, Yanyu Yin, Bowen Li, Kaitai Zhong, Xiaoxue Liu, Dong Jiang, Weixing Cao, Tingbo Dai. Optimizing planting density and nitrogen application to mitigate yield loss and improve grain quality of late-sown wheat under rice–wheat rotation[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2558-2574.
[10] Kuanyu Zhu, Yuemei Xu, Zhiwei Sun, Yajun Zhang, Weiyang Zhang, Yunji Xu, Junfei Gu, Hao Zhang, Zhiqin Wang, Lijun Liu, Jianhua Zhang, Jianchang Yang. Post-anthesis dry matter production and leaf nitrogen distribution are associated with root-derived cytokinins gradient in rice[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2106-2122.
[11] Yulu Chen, Li Huang, Jusheng Gao, Zhen Zhou, Muhammad Mehran, Mingjian Geng, Yangbo He, Huimin Zhang, Jing Huang. Long-term Chinese milk vetch incorporation promotes soil aggregate stability by affecting mineralogy and organic carbon[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2371-2388.
[12] Xiaoqiang Liu, Mingqi Li, Dong Xue, Shuai He, Junliang Fan, Fucang Zhang, Feihu Yin. Optimal drip irrigation leaching amount and timing enhanced cotton fiber yield, quality and nitrogen uptake by regulating soil salinity and nitrate nitrogen in saline-alkaline fields[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2389-2409.
[13] Jiaying Ma, Jian Liu, Yue Wen, Zhanli Ma, Jinzhu Zhang, Feihu Yin, Tehseen Javed, Jihong Zhang, Zhenhua Wang. Enhancing the yield and water use efficiency of processing tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller) through optimal irrigation and salinity management under mulched drip irrigation[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2410-2424.
[14] Liang Wang, Nijiang Ai, Zechang Zhang, Chenhui Zhou, Guoli Feng, Sheng Cai, Ningshan Wang, Liuchun Feng, Yu Chen, Min Xu, Yingying Wang, Haoran Yue, Mengfei Chen, Liangshuai Xing, Baoliang Zhou. Development of Gossypium hirsutumGossypium raimondii introgression lines and their use in QTL mapping of agricultural traits[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(5): 1688-1703.
[15] Zhaowen Mo, Siren Cheng, Yong Ren, Longxin He, Shenggang Pan, Haidong Liu, Hua Tian, Umair Ashraf, Meiyang Duan, Xiangru Tang. Reduced tillage coupled with straw return improves the grain yield and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content in fragrant rice[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(5): 1718-1737.
No Suggested Reading articles found!