A comparison of Costs and Benefits of conventional and organic table grapes productions in Southern Italy.

In this note a cost benefit analysis of an investment in a model farm for table grapes production in the South of Italy is presented. Organic and conventional production systems were compared, considering private costs and benefits, and estimating the externalities of the two systems. The results showed that the private profitability of both systems is positive, however modest, with a slightly superiority of the conventional system. On the contrary, the social costs and benefits analysis showed a strong superiority of the organic system, mainly due to smaller emissions of CO2, and limited use of synthetic chemical inputs. The results support the positive social benefit of policies offering incentives to the production of organic table grapes in the Mediterranean agricultural systems