Cropping costs were assessed according to the crop techniques described in the specific scenarios of the previous chapters, concerning large-scale and family farming in South America and Africa. Estimation of costs was primarily derived from Embrapa agroeconomic section, FAOSTAT website (2009) and Mozambique Biofuels Assessment. Each entry accounts for manpower cost (even if family labour), raw materials and machinery costs (e.g., fertilization cost includes fertilizer, tractor plus fertilizer spreader cost per hour or man-days required per ha, fuel consumption, etc.), and fixed costs for administration and maintenance. For perennial crops, the establishment costs (nursery and planting) are divided by the economic lifespan of each crop, and calculated as annual equivalent cost. According to the above-described methodology, the annual costs to grow the six oil crops in large scale and family farming systems in Brazil and Mozambique are reported: they vary from a few hundreds Euros per hectare for some crops under family farming in Mozambique, to more than one thousand Euros, still in family farming, in Brazil. There is no clear relationship between cropping costs and net income, as the yield (grain or fruits) expected from each crop and the respective market prices widely vary in the two Countries. respective market prices widely vary in the two Countries: in Brazil, the two annual crops (sunflower and soybean) and perennial castorbean appear to outperform the rest of perennial species (oil palm, coconut palm and Jatropha), under large scale farming. Under family farming, net income is often negative in Brazil, if the cost of manpower is accounted for; this is particularly true in the case of the two annual species, which are intrinsically unsuited for a labour-intensive cropping. In contrast to Brazil, family farming in Mozambique exhibits more consistent, positive net incomes; the limited influence of manpower cost is clearly perceived.

Economic Aspects: Assessment of Cropping Costs and Net Incomes

FAZIO, SIMONE;BARBANTI, LORENZO
2011

Abstract

Cropping costs were assessed according to the crop techniques described in the specific scenarios of the previous chapters, concerning large-scale and family farming in South America and Africa. Estimation of costs was primarily derived from Embrapa agroeconomic section, FAOSTAT website (2009) and Mozambique Biofuels Assessment. Each entry accounts for manpower cost (even if family labour), raw materials and machinery costs (e.g., fertilization cost includes fertilizer, tractor plus fertilizer spreader cost per hour or man-days required per ha, fuel consumption, etc.), and fixed costs for administration and maintenance. For perennial crops, the establishment costs (nursery and planting) are divided by the economic lifespan of each crop, and calculated as annual equivalent cost. According to the above-described methodology, the annual costs to grow the six oil crops in large scale and family farming systems in Brazil and Mozambique are reported: they vary from a few hundreds Euros per hectare for some crops under family farming in Mozambique, to more than one thousand Euros, still in family farming, in Brazil. There is no clear relationship between cropping costs and net income, as the yield (grain or fruits) expected from each crop and the respective market prices widely vary in the two Countries. respective market prices widely vary in the two Countries: in Brazil, the two annual crops (sunflower and soybean) and perennial castorbean appear to outperform the rest of perennial species (oil palm, coconut palm and Jatropha), under large scale farming. Under family farming, net income is often negative in Brazil, if the cost of manpower is accounted for; this is particularly true in the case of the two annual species, which are intrinsically unsuited for a labour-intensive cropping. In contrast to Brazil, family farming in Mozambique exhibits more consistent, positive net incomes; the limited influence of manpower cost is clearly perceived.
2011
Handbook on Biofuels and Family Agriculture in Developing Countries
247
253
Fazio S.; Barbanti L.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/110979
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