Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Handbook
, and the M-High farm represents a standard high yielding farm,
the highest value in the
Handbook
. The range is shown in Table 2 for
each crop considered. These yield differences, combined with the food
chain losses assumed (see Section 4.2), implied that different areas were
needed to provide the functional unit, i.e., the average annual amount of
vegetables (in food energy) at the consumer's door (Table 2).
TABLE 2:
Yields and corresponding areas needed to provide the amount of vegetables
sold in the case system for M-Low and M-High. Areas for the case farm are given for
comparison.
Case (ha)
M-Low
M-High
Yields
a
(t/ha)
Areas (ha)
Yields
a
(t/ha)
Areas (ha)
Potatoes, early
10
0.42
20
0.21
Potatoes, main crop
15
0.83
40
0.31
Carrots
15
0.41
50
0.12
Beetroots
10
0.35
30
0.12
Onions
10
0.35
25
0.14
Parsnips
10
0.21
30
0.07
Leeks
6
0.48
18
0.16
Squash
15
0.17
40
0.06
Cabbage, white
20
0.26
50
0.11
Cauliflower
16
0.23
24
0.15
Zucchini
7
0.88
13
0.47
Lettuce
6
1.73
9.6
1.08
Vegetables
4.02
6.32
3.01
Green manure
1.56
1.58
b
0.75
b
Field margins and
infrastructure
0.78
1.12
c
0.53
c
Total area
6.36
9.02
4.29
a
From
Organic Farm Management Handbook
[35], the lowest and highest yield for each
crop;
b
20% of cultivated area; c 14% of cultivated area based on the proportion for the
case.
