Economic Analysis of Sugarcane Production in Egypt

Abstract

ugarcane is considered one of the important strategic crops for some countries that cultivate it for sugar production. The problem lies in the fluctuation of sugarcane production alongside the continuous increase in sugar consumption. Therefore, an analytical study was conducted on the economics of sugarcane production considering the rising production costs. This research aims to study the economics of sugarcane production in Egypt during the period (2005-2022) by analyzing total production, costs, and net return per acre, as well as identifying the relative importance of the sugarcane-producing governorates in Egypt. In addition, it examines the relative importance of cost components associated with sugarcane cultivation. Among the key findings, it was shown that total cultivated area, total revenue per Feddan, and net return have all followed a generally increasing trend, with statistically significant annual growth at the 0.01 significance level. Meanwhile, both productivity and total production have followed a generally decreasing trend, with this decrease also statistically significant at the 0.01 level. The relative importance of average cost items for sugarcane production across governorates is distributed among wages and production inputs. Labor wages, chemical fertilizer costs, and machinery costs represent the highest shares of production costs in the governorates of Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan, with variations from one governorate to another. The most important sugarcane-producing governorates were Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan. The study recommends working on increasing the yield per feddan by developing high-yielding sugarcane varieties.