Economic analysis of post-harvest practices of table tomato growers in Lipa, 2015

Date

6-2015

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Antonio Jesus A. Quilloy

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the benefits and costs of post-harvest handling of table tomato growers in Lipa, Batangas. Specifically, it aimed to: (a) describe the post-harvest activities done by the table tomato growers (b) measure the costs and benefits of specific post-harvest practices employed by the table tomato growers and (c) determine if the employed post-harvest handling is profitable during lean and peak seasons. All table tomato growers in the top three producing barangays of Lipa (i.e. Lumbang, Plaridel, and Pusil) were interviewed using a pre-tested interview schedule. The respondents comprised of 57 farmers 20 coming from Lumbang, 24 from Plaridel and 13 respondents from Pusil. Costs and returns analysis was used to calculate the costs incurred, revenue generated, and profit obtained by each farmer and for each combination of post-harvest practices. Partial budget analysis was used to analyze and compare the net change in profit attributable to each post-harvest practice employed. The study revealed that the post-harvest practices commonly employed by table tomato growers are cleaning, sorting and grading, packaging, and transporting. While packaging and transporting were practiced by all survey respondents, cleaning and sorting and grading were considered by some respondents as optional post-harvest practices. Hence, the study focused on the measurement and analysis of the profit contribution of cleaning and sorting and grading. The combinations of post-harvest practices used were: (a) farmers who performed all post-harvest practices versus sorting and grading only (b) farmers who performed cleaning only versus farmers who did not perform sorting and grading nor cleaning (c) farmers who performed all post-harvest practices versus cleaning only and (d) farmers who performed sorting and grading only versus farmers who did not perform cleaning nor sorting and grading. These combinations were used in order to isolate the individual profit contribution of cleaning and sorting and grading. Employing post-harvest practices yields profit gains for table tomato growers during peak and lean seasons. However the type of post-harvest practice that is economically advisable for the adoption of table tomato growers is different between the two seasons. During the peak season, cleaning contributed roughly P1,157/mt and P1,155/mt. The higher profit contribution was observed for farms that practiced cleaning only. Meanwhile, the lower profit contribution is obtained by farmers that employed both cleaning and sorting and grading. Sorting and grading had a profit contribution ranging from P849/mt to P879/mt, where the lower contribution observed from farms that practiced sorting and grading with cleaning. During the lean season, cleaning had a profit contribution ranging from P1,799/mt to P3,978/mt. Cleaning had a higher contribution during the lean season when employed along with sorting and grading. Likewise, sorting and grading had higher contribution (roughly P3,556/mt) when paired with cleaning. Without cleaning, sorting and grading contributed about P1,349/mt only. These results imply that table tomato growers are better off practicing cleaning without the need for sorting and grading during peak seasons, when the prices of table tomatoes are relatively lower. Meanwhile, during lean seasons, when prices are relatively higher, the table tomato growers are better-off employing both cleaning and sorting and grading

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

Thesis

Document Type

Thesis

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