An ecological footprint approach to environmental–economic evaluation of farm results

Abstract

Farmers' cultivation choices affect the natural cycles of crops and impact their production. By assessing the farming activities, as influenced by crop types, land suitability and cultivation choices, the effectiveness of agricultural practices in terms of environmental impact can be evaluated. The study of the relationships between agriculture, environment and economic performance should be deepened, by considering the connection between agricultural activities and the use of natural resources beyond the economic issues, which are often taken as the unique or, at least, the main goal of human activities.The aim of this paper is to assess and to analyse in a comparative way the environmental and economic results of a crop production system at farm level.The methodology for the evaluation of environmental performance is based on a modified version of the Ecological Footprint account, used to measure the demand for natural resources linked to the farm's operations, which is compared with the Biocapacity of the crop system itself. The economic performances are assessed by means of crops' analytical budgets.The results provided by the case study analysis show that the considered farm cropping system reports an overall positive ecological balance (+2.4gha) together with an acceptable gross margin (16,200€). It emerges that crops with negative environmental performances sustain farm income, while the crops with a positive ecological balance bring a very limited contribution to economic profitability.Such results lead to some considerations about the importance of carefully considering the trade-off between economic and environmental consequences of farming activities in order to drive farmers towards a more sustainable behaviour.