However, because of the shortage of investment in public services and infrastructure, a set of social problems emerged,such as the medical treatment, housing problem, and the education problem of the poor population. The health conditions of the households were a barrier to the prevention of falling into “disease-poverty-disease” and breaking down intergenerational poverty caused by poor sanitation. At the same time, for families with housing problems, they need the transfer income to achieve poverty reduction because of a low level of asset possession. Thus, we need to improve the living and health conditions of poor households to complete poverty alleviation. The robust demand for quality products,mobile vertica farm the development of the market and supportive institutional frameworks are the driving forces for smart,sustainable European agriculture. This trend is expected to continue, as the growth in demand for organic products steadily outpaces the corresponding supply even during the current financial recession.
European organic farmland reached 7.6 million hectares in 2008, which corresponds to 4.1% of the total utilized agricultural area and accounts for almost 190,000 active holdings in the sector. In Greece, the organic sector has experienced even more rapid growth, as organically cultivated area increased from 591 ha in 1993 to309,822 ha in 2010 . The structure of the 24,000 organic holdings primarily consists of arable crops , permanent crops and permanent pasture . This portfolio depicts a significant change in the make-up of organic production since its early phase in the 1990s, when permanent crops were the main organic production category and organic olive trees , vineyards and citrus fruits were dominant. Today, the diversification of organic crops has been increasing as crops with superior market prospects such as cereals , forages , and vegetables and fruits have gradually been introduced .Recent data confirm that fruits and vegetables are the most important category of organic products that consumers purchase.The growing demand for organic fruits creates new opportunities for Greek farmerswho have opted for the production of organic cherries. Greek cherry producers have recently followed an export oriented policy to reach new markets and have gradually managed to build their commercial links and strengthen their presence in European markets.
This strategy is the outcome of a carefully designed and systematically implemented approach in the areas of standardisation, promotion and post-harvest physiology. These solutions were offered to producers who had adopted innovative farm practices, modernised their farms, and introduced new cherry varieties. The interest of Greek farmers in organic cherry production appears to be equally as strong as interest in conventional production despite the increased risk and uncertainty involved.Today, organic cherry production in Greece is limited and covers only 138 ha. The total area for cherry cultivationis 9700 ha, accounting for the production of approximately 42,000 tonnes of cherries in the last decade.The main cherry-producing areas are in Northern Greece and, more specifically, vertical farming rack in the region of Central Macedonia,where 77.9% of cherry orchards and 64.2% of total cherry production are located. In the last decade, the number of trees has shown an upward trend. The average production increased by 23% from 37,122 tonnes to 45,892 tonnes . An upward trend in the farm-gate price of cherries was the main driving factor behind the modernisation and restructuring of the sector. Consumers’ perceptions of the health-promoting properties of cherries and the high convenience level of cherries create favourable conditions for the further development of the sector.
These new varieties cover observed gaps during the picking period and produce higher-quality products with increased export potential. Moreover, agricultural cooperatives and producer organisations have applied advanced technological systems for post-harvest treatments that prevent quality loss, expand the timing of supply and ultimately maximise returns.This study explores whether the expansion of organic cherry production generates satisfactory economic results for farmers and whether it can thus be regarded as a promising alternative productive activity. Cherry farmers face significant yield and price risks, which, combined with the high initial cost of orchard establishment,provoke difficult investment decisions. This study applies the stochastic efficiency with respect to a function, introduced by Hardaker et al. , to account for the risk and uncertainty of such investments. Therefore,the evaluation of the farmers’ option of turning to organic cultivation, under risk and uncertainty, reveals the real dimensions of such an attempt and allows for policy suggestions that could facilitate farmers’ decisions.In addition, this study explores the consequences of the exclusion of the fruit sector from the Greek organic policy scheme on the economic outcomes of organic cherry producers. We thus perform a sensitivity analysis to investigate the economic outcomes of organic cherry production under various levels of subsidies. To explore the consequences of the financial crisis on the risky investment decisions, we also perform a sensitivity analysison changes in the net present value caused by increases in the discount rate level.