Organic farming and economic sustainability: the case of Sicilian durum wheat

In last years, the organic farming in the world is developing rapidly and Italy is the sixth country for organic area. Sicily is the main organic area of Italian territory and represents the first region for organic cereals. Among these durum wheat is the crop most widespread, especially in the hilly hinterland areas. The paper aims to analyze the economic sustainability of organic durum wheat. For this purpose, it has been determined the gross m argin of whea t within crop rotations of the Sici lian hilly hinterland, comparing 10 organic farms with 10 conventional farms. The results show a higher gross margin of organic wheat respect to conventional one, due to lower variable costs and higher production values, in which the organic payments represent a significant quota.