A Model for Pre-Estimation of Production of Organic Cotton in Iran; Case Study of Khorasan Province

摘要

Organic farming and organic production methods have got much importance in agriculture not only from environmental point of view but also from economic and social stand points; in this research keeping in mind this significance of organic farming an applied model is presented to estimate the cotton production in organic farms of Khorasan province, Iran. Production of organic cotton is obtained through surveys of 241 farms, partial elasticity of production of different inputs were derived from Cobb-Douglass production function. The results revealed that the cotton production decreased by 34.2% when the chemical factors were eliminated. The drop off yield in organic fields in large farms (more than 10 ha) is higher than small (less than 5 ha) and medium (5 to 10 ha) size farms due to uses more chemicals and fertilizers. The yield is 1.60 and 1.34 (t ha-1) for insured and non-insured farms, respectively. Also, the maximum yield in customary system is for mild region (3.044 t ha-1), while the minimum is in warm region (1.48 t ha-1). Finally, planning for financial support (subsidy), extension, providing non-chemical inputs to compensate the related production loss and this approach for a better planning and evaluating the organic products are recommended.