Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
17.2
Crop Productivity and
Production Costs
17.4
Greenhouse Production
Options
In the Mediterranean area, the crop produc-
tion strategy, in the past, was to adapt the
plants to a suboptimal microclimate instead
of optimizing the microclimate by means of
more expensive structures and equipment.
This trend has a limit, and nowadays it is
considered necessary to improve the tech-
nological level of the greenhouses to
improve production, especially in qualita-
tive terms, to be able to compete in an
increasingly globalized market (Plate 29).
The difficulty lies in finding a balance
between higher investments in crop pro-
duction infrastructure (greenhouse and
equipment) and competitive production
costs (see Chapter 14).
Vegetables represent the most common
greenhouse crop option in the Mediterranean
area (90% of the greenhouse area in Spain,
84% in Italy, 95% in Turkey), with the
exception of Israel (Castilla, 2002).
The climatic conditions, besides those of
the market, influence the chosen species (Plate
31). In France, for instance, the most cultivated
greenhouse species in the last few years has
been lettuce, due to its lower thermal require-
ments, displacing tomato. Cultivation of sev-
eral species in the family
Cucurbitaceae
is
avoided during certain periods in colder areas
of the Mediterranean Basin, as these species
are more temperature demanding than mem-
bers of the family
Solanaceae
(Castilla, 2002).
The cultivation of cut flower species or
ornamentals is of much lower economic impor-
tance than vegetables and the cultivation of
trees is focused mainly on bananas, while other
species are quite infrequent (Castilla, 2002).
At the production level, vegetable grow-
ers may choose between different options
(Wijnands, 2003): (i) to produce an acceptable
quality at a low cost; (ii) to produce high qual-
ity at an acceptable cost; (iii) to produce on
contract, and in accordance with the require-
ments of the purchaser, the cost being of lesser
concern as long as the product fulfils the
desired quality criteria; and lastly, although of
much less importance, (iv) to produce inno-
vative products, such as vegetables demanded
by certain ethnic groups for niche markets
(i.e. for specific segments of the market).
17.3
Destination of the Produce
When planning the development of a green-
house sector, on a large scale, there are two
important matters to consider (Jensen and
Malter, 1995): (i) the targeted market (i.e.
will the produce be delivered to national or
foreign markets); and (ii) the type of produc-
tion (i.e. will the products be edible horti-
culture or ornamentals) (Plate 30).
In general, whatever the destination of
the produce, it should be assumed that the
best climatic conditions and the lowest
costs are the basis for this development,
with special consideration to the transport
costs when the destination markets are far
away (see Chapter 14).
However, nowadays, consumer demand
for high quality products year round, hin-
ders the access of seasonal suppliers to the
markets (Jensen and Malter, 1995), because
the well-established suppliers enjoy a more
privileged access to the markets, especially,
to foreign markets. Therefore, in many cases,
the national market must be considered
a first choice, as it involves less risk and
less transport and preparation costs. On the
other hand, national markets are sometimes
a destination for second quality products.
17.5 Production Strategies and
17.5.1
General aspects
In Mediterranean areas, the use of green-
houses changes depending on the prevailing
local climatic conditions (basically radi-
ation and temperature) and the local socio-
logical and economic conditions. There is a
clear need to define the optimal greenhouse
