An Economic Study of the Impact of the Greenhouses on the Efficiency of Using Some Agricultural Resources in Egypt

Abstract

This research aimed to identify the role of agriculture in greenhouses in raising the efficiency of some agricultural resources. The study used descriptive and quantitative analysis methods. The objectives of the research were mainly based on preliminary data for a randomly selected field samples from vegetable producers in the Nubaria region its size (120) farmers, for the agricultural season 2016/2017. The results showed that the number of greenhouses in Egypt increased during the period (2003-2016) at a statistical annual average of about 2814 greenhouse, representing about 6.5% of the average number of greenhouses in the Republic during that period. Total vegetable production of greenhouses increased at a statistically significant annual rate of about 11.54 thousand tons. The seasonal fluctuations of the monthly labor of vegetable crops studied, it was found that the average working days fluctuated between periods of decline and height, which is due to the different needs of the monthly crops of working days as well as the area cultivated. The monthly seasonal fluctuations of agricultural labor for the study crops were found to be lower than the general average in January, February, May, June, and December. The results of the statistical estimation of the cost functions in the short run showed that the average total cost of the cucumber crop in the sample amounted to about 2360.4 LE per ton, the marginal costs of about 2609.0 LE per ton, and the elasticity of the costs of 1.11. Production which maximizes profit is about 20.6 tons. The total cost of the tomato crop was about LE 1464.2 per ton. The marginal costs are about LE 1470.3 per ton. The elasticity of the costs is 1.004. The production, which maximizes profit, is about 19.4 tons. The pepper crop has a total average cost of about 2441.5 LE per ton, marginal costs of about 2915.3 LE per ton, and elasticity of costs 1.19. The production, which maximizes profit, is about 34.9 tons of pepper. In general, the results showed that by increasing the production of vegetable crops by 10%, the total costs increased by 11.1%, 10.04% and 11.9% for cucumbers, tomatoes and pepper, respectively. This means that production is at an economic production stage, which means that it is possible to increase production by adding units of the productive elements used. It has also been shown that farmers in the vegetable crops under study still have the opportunity to increase their production to maximize their profits by vertical expansion in the production of those crops. The economic efficiency criteria showed a positive effect on the productivity of land (m²) and irrigation water (m³) units in the greenhouses compared to agriculture in the open field, where the productivity of (m²) of land in greenhouses increase than in the case of agriculture in the open field by 435%, 223% and 388%, and the productivity of (m³) of irrigation water increase by 508.8%, 403.1% and 240.0% for cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, respectively. The results indicated that there are many problems facing the producers of greenhouses, which were divided into three main groups: structural problems, behavioral problems and technical problems. The results of the statistical analysis showed that the technical problems were the most influential with an average weight of 77.8%, followed by structural problems with an average of about 71.4%, and last ranked behavioral problems with an average of 61.5%. The research recommended supporting the idea of the national program of the "Thousand Greenhouses" project, and encouraging research institutes and colleges of agriculture in universities to hold training courses on greenhouses and the economic feasibility of young graduates to expand the production of greenhouses. Activate the role of agricultural cooperatives to contribute to the marketing of agricultural products, and work to provide soft loans for young people interested in investment in the greenhouses.