Economic analysis of apple production in Macedonia: the case of Pelagonia Region

Abstract

Apple production in the Republic of Macedonia holds the greatest importance among all fruit crops in terms of export value, production quantity and area of land under apple trees. The favorable climatic conditions and the long-established tradition of growing apples offer huge potential for the development of this branch of fruit growing. Low productivity levels and high production costs of apple put major limitations to the competitiveness on domestic and foreign markets, mainly due to inadequate and obsolete cultivation practices and technologies applied. The research addresses the economic performance of family agricultural holdings. For the purposes of the analysis, a filed study has been conducted on 39 apple holdings in Pelagonia region for the production years 2009 and 2010. Besides the standard performance indicators, the following social and economic factors affecting the apple producers performance have been analyzed: area of land, farmers’ age, gender issue, apple varieties and land location. The methods of descriptive statistics and empirical methods of data analysis were used to process data. The findings demonstrate that apple trees are produces on small areas, with very high plant protection costs and seasonal work force. Farms’ economic success depends on the apple variety as well as the location of the orchards. Farmer’s/manager’s age correlates poorly with the farm’s success, whereas farms with greater economic size are more successful in apple production.