Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 14.7.
Variable production costs and yield of cucumber and short cucumber crops in an unheated
low-cost greenhouse in Almeria. (Source: J. Calatrava-Requena, unpublished data.)
Cucumber (autumn)
a
Short cucumber (spring)
b
Percentage of total
variable costs
Percentage of total
variable costs
Variable cost
Cost (
€
kg
−1
)
Cost (
€
kg
−1
)
Fertilizers
0.037
14.0
0.036
15.4
Pesticides
0.038
14.3
0.010
4.3
Seedlings/seeds
0.049
18.5
0.033
14.1
Water
0.006
2.3
0.007
3.0
Salaries
0.129
48.6
0.143
61.1
Others
0.006
2.3
0.005
2.1
Total
0.265
100.0
0.234
100.0
Yield (kg m
−2
)
7.22
5.38
a
Cucumber data: growing season 2000-2001 from 12 autumn-cycle cucumber farms.
b
Short cucumber data: growing season 2000-2001 from 14 spring-cycle cucumber farms.
Table 14.8.
Variable production costs and yield of autumn and spring courgette crops in an unheated
low-cost greenhouse in Almeria. (Source: J. Calatrava-Requena, unpublished data.)
Courgette (autumn)
a
Courgette (spring)
b
Percentage of total
variable costs
Percentage of total
variable costs
Variable cost
Cost (
€
kg
−1
)
Cost (
€
kg
−1
)
Fertilizers
0.057
18.3
0.016
9.1
Pesticides
0.032
10.4
0.015
8.5
Seedlings/seeds
0.049
15.9
0.023
13.0
Water
0.017
5.5
0.013
7.3
Salaries
0.138
44.7
0.099
55.9
Others
0.016
5.2
0.011
6.2
Total
0.309
100.0
0.177
100.0
Yield (kg m
−2
)
3.42
6.16
a
Courgette (autumn) data: growing season 2000-2001 from four autumn-cycle courgette farms.
b
Courgette (spring) data: growing season 2000-2001 from five spring-cycle courgette farms.
is compared with soilless cultivation
(Caballero and Miguel, 2002; D'Amico
et al
., 2003).
Growing crops organically also modifies
the variable costs structure in greenhouse
cultivation (Engindeniz and Tuzel, 2003).
Table 14.9 summarizes the composition
of the variable costs of greenhouse tomato
production in the two agrosystems
(Mediterranean and Dutch or northern). In
both cases, we can highlight the importance
of labour, which reaches similar propor-
tions. The greatest difference is in the energy
costs (natural gas), which involves 35% of
the total variable costs in the northern
agrosystem (Table 14.9). In this system there
is no cost for irrigation water, as previously
stored rainwater is used.
The presence of the grower permanently
heading the farm management, as well as
the use of better fertigation systems, are fac-
tors that clearly increase the production effi-
ciency in Mediterranean greenhouses,
without having detected scale economies
(Cañero and Calatrava-Leyva, 2001).
14.1.5
Other aspects of interest
Commercial greenhouse cultivation sys-
tems, besides their direct economic impact,
generate multiple external economies, of
