ISHS Acta Horticulturae 711: V International Symposium on Artificial Lighting in Horticulture
ECONOMY OF INTERPLANTING OF TOMATOES WITH FIVE PLANTINGS A YEAR IN FINLAND |
| Authors: | T. Karhula, P. Outa |
| Keywords: | tomato, greenhouse, short cultivation, year-round production, profitability, production costs |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.711.63 |
| Abstract:
The efficiency of tomato production round the year can be improved with interplanting, where several short-term crops are used instead of one long-season. In this method the tomato crop is renewed by growing new plants so that when the old plants no longer yield a crop, the new generation of plants reaches maturity. The objective of that kind of short cultivation is that the greenhouse produces a constant crop, which means that economic returns and costs are also created constantly. The purpose of this study was to examine the profitability and production costs of tomato production when interplanting is carried out five times a year. The study is based on a cultivation experiment carried out by the Horticulture Unit of the Agrifood Research Finland MTT in 2001-2002 The study was made using static farm models for horticulture of the MTT Economic Research. The farm model was adjusted to simulate the cultivation experiment of tomato production round the year with interplanting. The input data from the cultivation experiment were used in the production cost calculations. The calculations were made for a model tomato greenhouse of 2,000 m2. According to the results, the production costs are rather high, 169 €/m2. Energy costs are a very significant cost item, representing as much as 37% of the production costs. The share of labour cost is 15%, materials and supplies 28%. The remaining 20% of the costs consists of fixed assets and overheads. In this study the profitability is evaluated with the concept of entrepreneur's profit or loss. The entrepreneur's loss is about -9 €/ m2 according to farm model. This means that entrepreneur family must settle for 30% lower wage and interest on capital than the pre-set values calculated. However, the remaining wages are still about 8.6 €/hour and the interest on capital is 3.6 %. Pressures on the profitability of the short cultivation of tomatoes are caused by both the production costs and the variation in the producer price. Tomato production involves numerous risk factors, which cause economic uncertainty. | |
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