Productive and economic efficiency of traditional and organic farming systems for some medicinal and aromatic plants in Fayoum Governorate

The advancement of medicinal and aromatic plant production is a key objective due to their significant economic value and diverse applications. The research problem lies in the fact that, despite their economic importance as non-traditional crops, their relative contribution to the total cultivated area remains limited. This study primarily aims to identify the factors influencing the production of traditional and organic caraway and fennel crops in Fayoum Governorate. An estimation of economic efficiency revealed that producers utilizing the organic farming system achieved higher net returns per feddan, amounting to approximately 31,058 and 25,683 thousand EGP/feddan for caraway and fennel, respectively, compared to 26,260 and 20,258 thousand EGP/feddan under conventional farming. Regarding marketing efficiency, the efficiency levels of traditional caraway marketing channels from the first to the fourth ranged from 86.97% to 87.47%, while organic farming channels recorded higher efficiency levels from the first to the third, ranging between 89.95% and 90.33%. For fennel, the marketing efficiency under conventional farming ranged between 85.92% and 86.76% across the four marketing channels, whereas organic farming demonstrated higher efficiency levels ranging between 88.82% and 89.49% across the three marketing channels. The challenges facing medicinal and aromatic plant producers in Fayoum Governorate include high labor and machinery costs, difficulties in securing pre-sale contracts, market dominance by certain traders leading to unfavorable prices for producers, low per-feddan productivity, high prices of organic fertilizers and biopesticides, irrigation water contamination with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and lack of oversight in organic farming implementation. The study recommends launching awareness campaigns to promote organic farming and its benefits in increasing farmers' incomes, implementing agricultural policies that protect producers from intermediary exploitation, expanding the cultivation area of medicinal and aromatic plants, and designating organic farming production to newly reclaimed lands.