Details and abstract follow of a paper written by FCRN mailing list member, Chris Smaje, entitled Industrial or agro-ecological farming: performance indicators in the UK (2011).   Abstract This paper examines the performance of conventional, high-input ‘industrial’ farming and agro-ecological smallholding across seven different indicators of performance:

1. Productivity per unit area.
2. Productivity per unit cultivated area.
3. Nutritionally necessary productive capacity.
4. Productivity per unit labour.
5. Productivity per unit greenhouse gas emitted.
6. Productivity per unit fossil energy use.
7. Biodiversity.

Productivity is measured in terms of gross food production, energy and protein. Data are taken from UK average figures and specific farm productivity figures on the basis of two ‘ideal-typical’ farms of their type: a 100ha mainly arable farm and a 6ha horticultural smallholding. It’s found that the industrial farm is more productive on a unit area and labour basis, but that the agro-ecological farm is adequately productive in terms of nutritionally necessary productive capacity. The agro-ecological farm is more productive in relation to greenhouse gas emissions, fossil energy use and biodiversity. Thus each farm type offers specific forms of productive efficiency – neither is the most ‘efficient’ in any absolute sense. The paper discusses data limitations and policy implications.