Scope for sustainability: do castor beans and the biodiesel industry offer family farmers a...

Scope for sustainability:

Do castor beans and the biodiesel industry offer family farmers a sustainable development opportunity in Brazil?

Madeleine Florin, Gerrie van de Ven, Martin van Ittersum

Plant Production Systems group

Brazilian national biodiesel programme

Blending targets 5% by 2012

Social fuel seal Fraction of expenditure on family farmers (feedstock, extension, seeds)

Regional development Targeting the semi-arid Promoting castor beansfor family farmers

Family farming in Montes Claros Transition zone between Caatinga and

Cerrado 1035 mm year-1 concentrated during 3-4 months

Dominant farming system is extensive cattle ranching Pasture Fodder crops Food crops Dairy cattle for cheese production Meat production

The situation unfolding Few family farmers participating and the

dominant biodiesel feedstock is soy beans Suitability of castor beans Trust between industry and farmers Incentives

What is the scope for sustainable cultivation of castor beans by family farmers and can this be explained by:

o Current productivity?o Alternative productivity?o Alternative farm-level management decisions?

Research question:

What is the scope for sustainable cultivation of castor beans by family farmers and can this be explained by:o current productivityo alternative productivityo alternative management

decisions taken at the farm level?

Pri

ncip

les Productivity Acceptability Security

Protection

Viability

Cri

teri

a

- Not endanger the food production and other local biomass applications

- Contribute to economic development of smallholder or family farmers - Contribute to the social justice of smallholder or family farmers

- Increase the stability of smallholder or family farmers livelihood

- Maintain or increase carbon sinks in vegetation and soil - Retain or improve the soil and soil quality - Retain or improve the water quantity and quality - Maintain or increase biodiversity - Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (compared with fossil fuels)

- Contribute to economic development of smallholder or family farmers

Indicator selection framework

Sustainability criteria Selected indicators

Biofuel production should contribute to economic development of family farmers

- Farm income (R$ ha-1; R$ household-1)

Biofuel production should increase the stability of family farmer livelihood

- Simpson’s diversity index - Labour inputs and labour use efficiency (days year-1; R$ day -1)- Purchased inputs and purchased input use efficiency (R$ year-1; R$ R$-1)

Biofuel production should retain or improve the soil and soil fertility

- Nitrogen balance (kg ha-1; kg farm-1)

Indicator selection framework

Research question:



Farm survey

Visit 20 farms in September 2010 Current activities and

areas Economic

characteristics Inputs and outputs by

activity

Variation in pasture productivity

Variation in crop productivity (for fodder)

Maize yield: 340 – 4080 kg ha-1

Milk yields: 436 – 4169 l cow-1 year-1

4 focus farms – variation of maize and milk yields

Farm Farm areas (ha) Herd size/number of milking cows

Household size/ labour(no. of people)

‘1’- Maize quartile 1 (340 kg ha-1)- Milk quartile 1 (436 l cow-1)

Whole farm: 46Maize/beans: 2.0Sugarcane: 1.5Brachiaria pasture: 3.0Native pasture: 33.5Native vegetation: 5.0

30/7 2/2

‘2’- Maize quartile 2(1148 kg ha-1)- Milk quartile 4(2555 l cow-1)

Whole farm: 8.0Maize/beans: 2.0Sugarcane: 1.0Brachiaria pasture: 5.0Native pasture: 0.0Native vegetation: 0.0

34/10 4/2



150/5 5/5



35/10 2/2

Research question:



Alternative farming system design

Castor bean 1 – 552 kg ha-1




4 castor bean yield levels (Diniz Neto et al. 2009)

Alternative farming system design

Castor bean area decision 1Replace one hectare of area currently cropped with maize and beans with castor beans and beans



Castor bean 3 – 1035 kg ha-

1


1

Castor bean area decision 2Replace total area currently cropped with maize and beans (two hectares) plus one hectare currently under pasture with castor beans and beans

Castor bean 1

Castor bean 2

Castor bean 3

Castor bean 4

4 castor bean yield levels by 2 castor bean area decisions

Alternative farming system design Animal feeding decision

1Replace all sacrificed feed production (maize and pasture) by purchasing supplementary fodder (maize equivalent) and renting an equivalent hectare of pasture

Animal feeding decision 2Sacrifice milk yields due to losses in fodder production

Castor bean area decision 1Replace one hectare of area currently cropped with maize and beans with castor beans and beans

Castor bean 1 – 552 kg ha-1 Castor bean 1

Castor bean 2 – 615 kg ha-1 Castor bean 2


1 Castor bean 3


1 Castor bean 4

Castor bean area decision 2Replace total area currently cropped with maize and beans (two hectares) plus one hectare currently under pasture with castor beans and beans

Castor bean 1 Castor bean 1




4 castor bean yield levels by 2 castor bean area by 2 animal feeding decisions

Indicator quantification 4 current + 4 X 16 alternatives Input-output calculations

Survey data Supplementary data Assumptions involved...

• Nitrogen balance assumptions• Labour assumptions• Alternative feeding strategy assumptions

“Indicator differences” by current and alternatives

Graphical display

Results – current farms

Farm ‘one’

Farm ‘two’

Farm ‘three’

Farm ‘four’

Farm-level indicators

Farm income (R$ household-1) 4017 14791 16369 8554

Farm income (R$ ha-1) 89 1849 171 409

Labour inputs (days year-1) 254 206 330 190

Labour use efficiency (R$ day-1) 16 72 50 45

Purchased inputs (R$ year-1) 1863 1456 4234 1599

Purchased input use efficiency (R$ R$-1) 2 10 4 5

Nitrogen balance (kg farm-1) -529 -476 -2749 -606

Nitrogen balance (kg ha-1) -12 -59 -29 -29

Simpson’s diversity index 0.41 0.41 0.46 0.50

Field-level indicators

Nitrogen balance for crops (kg ha-1) -10 -18 -39 27

Nitrogen balance for animal/pasture (kg ha-1) -19 -112 -66 -60

Results – “indicator differences” by current farm

Income Productivity of castor beans relative to maize

and milk Purchased inputs

Value of current on-farm fodder production

Mean ∆ income(R$ year-1)

Mean ∆ purchased inputs (R$)

‘Farm 1’ +1143 +237

‘Farm 2’ -8 +628

‘Farm 3’ +209 +950

‘Farm 4’ -423 +1348

Results – “indicator differences” by alternative farming systems

By castor bean yield levels Nitrogen balance and fertilizer inputs important

here By farm-level decisions

Purchased inputs different between castor area and fodder replacement strategies

Mean ∆ purchased inputs (R$)

Castor bean area 1

+365

Castor bean area 2

+1216

Feeding decision 1

+1474

Feeding decision 2

+107

Results – interactions between current and alternative farming systems

Which combinations of farm, field- and farm-level decisions are most favourable?

Area decision 1 and feeding decision 1




Discussion and concluding remarks – scope

Broad implications of the results Farm-specific nature of opportunities

• Target low productivity farms• Alternatives to suit different farms

Do not ignore the trade-off with milk and fodder production

Improving current production activities versus introducing a new activity

Discussion and concluding remarks – future work... Explore more extensive set of alternatives

Agronomic detail Temporal variation

Integration of animal production with biodiesel production

Consider land, labour and cash constraints Consider more sustainability indicators

Capture regional-level issues (industry viability; hydrology)

Product-level issues (life cycle analysis)

Acknowledgements NWO-WOTRO for funding Programme partners in Wageningen, Brazil

and Mozambiquewww.foodorfuel.org

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