Economics. Whether organic agriculture can continue to expand globally will primarily be determined by its financial performance compared with conventional agriculture17,60. The main factors that determine the profitability of organic agriculture include crop yields,
labour and total costs, price premiums for organic products, the potential for reduced income during the organic transition period (usually three years), and potential cost savings from the reduced reliance on non-renewable resources and purchased inputs61. To the best of our knowledge, only one meta-analysis has analysed the financial performance of organic and conventional agriculture20. The analysis combines findings from 40 years of studies covering 55 crops grown on five continents. When actual price
premiums (higher prices awarded to organic foods) were included, organic agriculture proved significantly more profitable (22 to 35% greater net present values) and had higher benefit/cost ratios (20 to 24%) than conventional agriculture. When organic premiums
were taken away, net present values (−27 to −23%) — net returns accounting for the time value of money — and benefit/cost ratios (−8 to −7%) of organic agriculture were significantly lower than conventional agriculture20.