My name is Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda. I am an agricultural economist in the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at the Technical University of Valencia (Spain). I am also involved in the SALSA project, and thank all the participants in this e-conference for their valuable contributions. I have been following closely the exchange of messages. I would like to make a point that have somehow arisen in the previous contributions. I agree we need a definition of small farmers able to: (i) include pastoralists and landless farmers (#9 Mahesh Chander; #12 Loupa Pius; #44 Richard W.N. Yeboah) and (ii) able to adapt to the different situations regarding productive assets and natural resources base (#23 Daniel Nkomboni; #32 Arbab Ghulam Qadir; #34 Mahesh Chander). Therefore, rather than using a definition based on the land base of the holding, I suggest that a measurement of the economic dimension of the agricultural activity would allow us to consider these elements. This is much in line with the proposal from Bazyli Czyżewski (#33) to use the Standard Output to define small farms. Although, as pointed out by Arbab Ghulam Qadir (#39), the criteria to measure the economic dimension used for this definition would have to be adapted to the reality in each region. I know that the different countries’ available statistical information and the thresholds to be used would require a flexible approach but, do you think this could be feasible in the countries in which you are based? Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda Dpt. Economics and Social Sciences Universitat Politècnica de València Spain http://www.upv.es/pls/oalu/sic_person.Info?p_alias=dortiz&P_IDIOMA=i http://www.transmango.eu http://www.salsa.uevora.pt/en/ http://vital.environmentalgeography.nl/project/ E-mail: dortiz (at) esp.upv.es [To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information, see http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/434322/ ]. ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the SMALL-FARMS-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=SMALL-FARMS-L&A=1