Download or read book Economic Feasibility of Conventional Versus Organic Farming After the Banning of Illicit Crops in the Bekaa Region, Lebanon written by Ahmad Ali Slaibi and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last two decades organic farming systems attracted increasing attention. It is perceived to offer some solutions to the problems currently besetting the agricultural sectors in many countries (Lampkin, 1994). During the war period that extended from 1975 to 1991, the Lebanese government was unable to maintain law and order across the country. Under this situation, farmers in the north Bekaa region capitalized on this opportunity by shifting to the more profitable production of illicit crops. After the Taif Accord and by 1993, the Lebanese Government managed to stop the production of illicit crops in the Bekaa valley. However no alternative feasible cropping pattern was proposed to these fanners. This lead to significant economic and financial losses to the local farmer and the region.--Based on this condition, this study assesses organic farming as a potential feasible replacement approach that could increase the economic welfare in the region. The objective is to study the feasibility of organic farming as compared to the current conventional practices in the Bekaa region. Financial enterprise budgets were developed for five crops in the conventional, developing organic and fully organic production practices. A linear programming model was then developed. This optimization model was based on current constraints prevailing in the region and sensitivity scenarios were considered based on simulating the decrease in the water availability for irrigation. Following that a producer survey was conducted to study the familiarity of sampled farmers in the Bekaa region with organic farming and their willingness to shift to organic practices once proven feasible. The results indicated that organic farming is a sound--economic development alternative for rural areas in Lebanon, it can replace the conventional practices and provide farmers with a higher income and consumers with healthier products.