Productive and Economic Efficiency of Cucumber Crop under the Greenhouse System in North Sinai Governorate

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Al-Arish University

2 Department of Economics, Faculty of Fisheries, Suez University, Egypt.

Abstract

The research aims in general to shed light on the cultivation of the cucumber crop under the greenhouse system to determine the efficiency of the performance of this system. The research relied mainly on the primary data collected through a questionnaire form for a stratified random sample of 35 holders inside the center of Bir al-Abed, Rumana and Arish in North Sinai Governorate during the  production season 2020.
The results indicated that the most important factors affecting the production of the cucumber crop are the quantity of seeds, the number of human working hours, the amount of organic fertilizer, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer, the amount of pesticides, and finally the number of automated work hours. The total elasticity coefficient amounted to about 0.575 for large greenhouses, compared to about 1.195 for small greenhouses. The results confirmed that the total costs of producing large greenhouses (more than 500 m2) amounted to about 13.3 thousand pounds, equivalent to about 1.78 pounds per kg of cucumber crop, compared to about 10.5 A thousand pounds for a small greenhouse (less than 500 square meters), equivalent to about 1.97 pounds per kilogram.
Regarding measures of economic efficiency, the results indicated that the return on the investment for the large greenhouse amounted to about 71.8%, compared to about 60% for its small counterpart, and the profit margin of the product was about 41.9%, and 37.5% for the large and small greenhouses, respectively.
In general, the results indicated high profit margins and measures of economic efficiency for cucumber farms under the greenhouse system, especially the large-capacity greenhouse (greater than 500 m2). This confirms the feasibility of investing in the cultivation of the cucumber crop, under the system of plastic greenhouses, especially large greenhouses, which have an area of more than 500 square meters.
 

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