ABSTRACT
Small farms in southern Italy represent an extraordinarily diverse group of commodities, production strategies, and agro-environmental conditions. The representativeness of the farm systems in the four provinces, measured in terms of technical orientation and economic dimension. Farm structure also has characteristics similar to Val d’Agri. Farms are small, averaging 4.5 ha. Land is unequally distributed, and 10 percent of the farms operate half of the arable area. Farm models were used to evaluate the economic performance of the farm systems. Crop and livestock budgets were constructed from technical coefficients to represent input requirements and farm gate prices. In the Ufita-Alta Irpinia zone, the simulations emphasized reductions in the scale of machinery and equipment and changes in crop mix. The extent of structural adjustment of rural areas in the parts of southern Italy and the policies needed to ease the process of structural adjustment are the principal concerns of national policy makers.
