Integrated vs. Specialized Farming Systems for Sustainable Food Production: Comparative Analysis of Systems’ Technical Efficiency in Nebraska

Abstract

Complementarities between crops and livestock production have the potential to increase input use efficiency and maintain a diversified livelihood. This paper uses non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the technical efficiency (TE) of integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) compared to specialized cropping and specialized livestock systems in the state of Nebraska, in the central United States. We classify each county of Nebraska into one of three systems according to their dominant agricultural production revenues. We use DEA to measure the TE of each county compared, first, to a group production frontier (in-system comparison) and second, to a metafrontier (cross-system comparison). Thirty percent of the cropping systems counties were evaluated as fully efficient in the in-system comparison with other cropping systems counties. Thirty-six percent of the livestock systems counties and 18% of the ICLS counties were evaluated as fully efficient in their in-system comparisons. The ICLS counties are less likely to appear on the metafrontier, with a total of only 7% compared to 39% and 32% for the specialized cropping and specialized livestock systems, respectively. These results highlight the need for further research on optimal crop–livestock integration that allows for the realization of synergies and complementarities needed for higher efficiency and sustainable intensification of food production.

The integrated farming system is an environmentally friendly and cost‐effective approach to the sustainability of agri‐food systems in the modern era of the changing climate: A comprehensive review

“…Therefore, with rising consumerism in rural areas, farmers need to improve their standard of living ensuring and best means is the adoption of IFS with the allocation of best-suited enterprises in the farm which can enhance their income and livelihood security Kumar, Subash, et al, 2012;Puste et al, 2013). Complementarities between crops and livestock had the potential to increase input use efficiency and maintain a diversified livelihood (Afi & Parsons, 2023). IFS is a resource management approach that generates higher economic returns sustainably and meets the diverse needs of tropical farm households while preserving the resource base with environmental security.…”