Costs of production and organic price premiums are defining factors influencing the economic viability of organic crop production systems. Different agronomic practices, such as crop rotation and tillage intensity, are known to affect the economic performance of the production systems. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of two crop rotation sequences (simplified and diversified) and two levels of tillage intensity (high and low) on the cost of production, gross return and gross margin of crops when grown under organic management in the semi-arid Brown soil zone of the Canadian Prairies. The 2-year simplified rotation sequence consisted of forage pea (Pisum sativum L.) grown as a green manure followed by hard red spring wheat (HRSW) (Triticum aestivum L.), while the 4-year diversified rotation sequence was forage pea green manure followed by flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) or yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.), field pea or lentil (Lens culinaris L.) and HRSW. Our hypothesis that a more diversified crop rotation would increase profitability over a traditional simplified crop rotation was supported by the findings. However, the findings did not support our hypothesis that reducing tillage intensity, and the combination of tillage reduction and diversified crop rotation through a synergetic response, would further enhance profitability. Analysis of the breakeven prices and breakeven yields for crops indicated the importance of adopting diversified crop rotations and choosing crops with high organic price premiums as means to maximize the long-term profitability of organic cropping systems.

中文翻译：

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不同耕作强度和轮作方式下有机种植系统的经济分析

生产成本和有机价格溢价是影响有机作物生产系统经济可行性的决定性因素。众所周知，不同的农艺实践，如轮作和耕作强度，会影响生产系统的经济绩效。本研究的目的是比较两种作物轮作顺序（简化和多样化）和两种耕作强度水平（高和低）在有机管理下种植时对作物生产成本、总回报和毛利率的影响。加拿大大草原的半干旱棕壤带。2 年的简化轮作序列包括饲用豌豆（豌豆L.) 作为绿肥种植，然后种植硬红春小麦 (HRSW) (小麦L.），而 4 年多样化轮作顺序是草料豌豆绿肥，其次是亚麻（亚麻L.) 或黄芥末 (白芥菜L.)、豌豆或扁豆 (烹饪透镜L.) 和 HRSW。研究结果支持了我们的假设，即更多样化的轮作将比传统的简化轮作提高盈利能力。然而，研究结果不支持我们的假设，即减少耕作强度，以及通过协同反应将减少耕作和多样化轮作相结合，将进一步提高盈利能力。对作物盈亏平衡价格和盈亏平衡产量的分析表明，采用多样化轮作和选择有机价格溢价高的作物作为最大化有机种植系统长期盈利能力的手段的重要性。