Analysis of the economic viability of organic production system of ornamental pineapple plants for cut stems

The growth of Brazilian floriculture is remarkable, both in terms of the number of producers and the cultivated area. To reduce costs and add value, the organic production of ornamental pineapple plants is an option for some consumer markets. This study was carried at the Fundação José Carvalho, municipality of Entre Rios (Bahia State), Brazil, to evaluate the economic viability of the organic production of ornamental pineapple plants, as well as to analyze the economic factors from implantation of the crop to the final production phase. Primary and secondary data collection (technical coefficients and prices) was carried out, which allowed updating the value of these coefficients. After determining the technical coefficients, input prices and product prices were surveyed and were inserted in spreadsheets of production cost and profitability. Data processing and profitability analysis were carried out under deterministic and risk conditions. The organic cultivation system for ornamental pineapples proved to be economically viable, providing greater profitability and production of stems, which is the product of interest.

Structural decomposition analysis with disaggregate factors within the Leontief inverse

A trivial case in input–output structural decomposition analysis is a decomposition of a product of variables, or factors, where one factor is an inverse—typically, Leontief inverse—of a sum of other factors. There may be dozens and hundreds of such factors that describe the changes in subsets of technical coefficients. The existing literature offers ambiguous guidance in this case. The solution that is consistent with the index number theory may be virtually infeasible. The simplified ad hoc solutions require the researcher to make arbitrary choices, lead to biased estimates and do not ensure the consistency-in-aggregation of factors. This paper reviews the ad hoc solutions to the said problem and describes a numerical test to identify the best-performing solution. It is found that calculating the average of the two polar decomposition forms for each factor is superior to other approximations in terms of minimising the errors.

Solving Multi-Objective Linear Programming Problems with Fuzzy Interval Based on Decomposition Method

Most of the problems in real-world situations have a multi-objective, in these situations, available information in the system is not exact or imprecise. In this paper, solving multi-objective linear programming problems with fuzzy non-negative intervals such as objective function coefficients, technical coefficients, and fuzzy variables by using an approximation but a convenient method called decomposition method has been proposed. In the composition method, ranking functions are not used. With the help of numerical examples, the method is illustrated.

Structural decomposition analysis with disaggregate factors within the Leontief inverse

A trivial case in input-output structural decomposition analysis is a decomposition of a product of variables, or factors, where one factor is an inverse -- typically Leontief inverse -- of a sum of other factors. There may be dozens and hundreds of such factors that describe the changes in subsets of technical coefficients. The existing literature offers ambiguous guidance in this case. The solution that is consistent with the index number theory may be virtually infeasible. The simplified ad hoc solutions require the researcher to make arbitrary choices, lead to biased estimates and do not ensure the consistency-in-aggregation of factors. This paper reviews the ad hoc solutions to the said problem and describes a numerical test to identify the best-performing solution. It is found that calculating the average of the two polar decomposition forms for each factor is superior to other approximations in terms of minimising the errors.

Structural and technical changes in Brazil:

The aim of this paper is to investigate the declining coefficient hypothesis to Brazil during the 2003-2013 period. It uses statistical methods applied by Obstlom (1992) and Aroche-Reyes (1995), to verify the pattern of technical change in Brazil. We built the input-output tables employing the methodology developed by Guilhoto and Sesso (2005). The results indicate a change in the structure of the economy, leading to a decrease in Leontief's direct technical coefficients. The Brazilian economy presented a positive economic preformance, from 2003 to 2013, marked by a rise in the productivity of inputs.

Terciarización del sistema productivo ibérico: Rasgos diferenciales

This work aims to analyze the tertiarisation process of two neighbouring countries, Spain and Portugal, during the period 1995-2005. In this regard we pretend to find out if there are differences between the two productive systems as for the use of tertiary inputs or it is possible to talk about the “Iberian productive system.” It is also analyzed if different activities employ the same amount of tertiary inputs within their productive processes. These findings could be a key to explain the tertiarisation processes in both countries. The methodology that enables to quantify the level of tertiarisation of economies is based on the input-output analysis. The impact of services on user activities is appreciated by means of a series of effects that can be obtained through the technical coefficients and the Leontief inverse matrix.

Methods of cultivation and technical coefficients of peanuts in the Bahian Recôncavo

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to collect information about peanut cultivation methods adopted by family farmers in the Bahian Recôncavo (region that surrounds the bay in the state of Bahia, Brazil), using a specific form and also direct information from farmers. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the mesoregion of the Bahian Recôncavo in the following municipalities: Conceição do Almeida, Cruz das Almas, Maragogipe, São Felipe, São Felix, Sapeaçú and Laje (Vale do Jequiriçá), where 60 local farmers answered a nonstructured questionnaire about peanut cultivation. The cultivation system was estimated based on technical coefficients related to peanut cultivation in the area evaluated. The peanut cultivation system is carried out by family farmers from the Bahian Recôncavo who employ outdated practices and do not use the required basic steps. The technical coefficients analyzed show that the cultivation of peanut is an unprofitable activity when considering the high cost of production in this region, even though productivity is higher than in the entire state as well as in the Northeast region. Farmers in the Bahian Recôncavo do not consider the actual production costs of peanuts since they use seeds from previous crops and do not account for the labor costs of family members. There is a lack of active and continuous technical assistance to family farmers, not only in relation to the cultivation system, but also the possibility of other destinations for peanuts produced in the region.

Productivity and Economic Viability of Intercropping of Cucumber and Lettuce, in Southern Tocantins, Brazil

In Brazil, vegetable consumption grows every year, as it has many advantages, from the supply of food to the medicinal value, which makes it necessary to optimize the use of land by producers, and an alternative used is the intercropping. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the productivity and economic viability of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in two different cropping systems (intercropped and monoculture). The production of seedlings was held at UFT —Gurupi Campus and the experiment conducted in a given area featuring 13m wide and 23 m in length, totaling 299 m2, in the period between June and August of 2018. The area mentioned was used for the production of Lucy Brown lettuce, and the ‘Caipira’ variety of cucumber. The experiment was conducted in a cazualized block with four replications and three treatments, which were incorporated in: monoculture of cucumber (T1), monoculture of lettuce (T2), and consortium of lettuce with cucumber (T3). Lettuce and cucumber in monoculture presented the best answers for all variables analyzed when compared with the consortium. The index of equivalence area (IEA) was calculated to assess the efficiency of crops in both production systems. And the value found for the IEA showed that the consortium is efficient within the production system. According to the technical coefficients relating to deployment, conducting plants and their production costs, the Consortium has proven economically viable.

International competitiveness of value chains for sugar beet and sugarcane: a combined approach to estimate production and processing costs in Brazil and Germany

With the liberalization of the European sugar sector, the industry is free to export sugar to the world market, competing with other sugarcane producing countries. To understand competitiveness, it is imperative to compare total production costs, including both raw material (farm) and processing costs (mill). Therefore, farmlevel production costs from agri benchmark combined with an engineering approach to calculate processing costs were merged to calculate sugar production costs in Germany and Brazil. The necessary data related to investment costs and technical coefficients was obtained in collaboration with BMA. Results show that processing one ton of white sugar (excluding raw material costs) from sugarcane in Brazil is more than USD30/t cheaper than processing sugar beet in Germany. Including raw material costs and the sales of byproducts, white sugar production in Brazil has a total cost advantage of USD112/t over German factories. Key differences in production costs are associated with labor (20%), depreciation (20%) and energy costs (40%). The findings indicate that even with equivalent raw material costs, the lower net processing costs are a major competitive advantage for Brazilian sugar producers. The combination of the typical farm approach and the dynamic engineering model can be applied to other regions, allowing for the estimation of regional production and shifts in global sugar supply.