Economic efficiency, livelihood resilience and farmer-led innovation in protected cultivation: Evidence from open field comparisons

Abstract

Protected Cultivation Technologies (PCT) have been increasingly recognized as sustainable, climate resilient and financially appealing alternatives to traditional open field farming methods. This study compares the socio-economic benefits and disadvantages associated with both systems; using primary data collected from adopters of PCT to analyse not just Livelihood Indicators, but also Economic Performance Indicators through Cost-Benefit Ratios. The findings indicate that on multiple levels, PCT outperforms open field systems with regard to income stability, net income generation, job creation, resource-use efficiency and risk mitigation. High capital costs, lack of access to specialized technical assistance, market and institutional barriers all inhibit early adoption of PCT. Although these impediments exist promotional efforts focused on developing innovative strategies specific to the region, as well as policy-driven solutions to increase the sustainability and scalability of PCT have been proposed by farmers. Therefore, while low cost and highly susceptible to risk, open field farming shall ultimately evolve from a traditional crop growing system to one driven by an economy based on resilience and commercial success; therefore policy-based interventions that alleviate barriers of entry are needed to facilitate distribution and widespread acceptance.