Cherries under cover in the United Kingdom -- an economic analysis.

摘要

There has been a resurgence of interest in growing cherries (Prunus spp.) in the United Kingdom in recent years. Problems of poor quality, inconsistent yields, bacterial canker and tree vigour have been largely overcome by the development of dwarfing rootstocks, new cultivars, more intensive planting, and effective and economic covering systems which reduce cracking. An economic study, that compared three cherry planting systems (single row, 643 trees/ha; double row, 1632 trees/ha; and triple row,2280 trees/ha), with and without rain covers, was conducted in 1997 in East Malling, UK. Data were collected from British cherry growers and the Horticulture Research International (East Malling) orchard. A spreadsheet model, which produced cash flows for one hectare of cherries and calculated net present values (NPVs), internal return rates (IRRs), and payback periods was developed. Results indicated that growing cherries without covers was economically very risky for all three planting systems, with small reductions in expected price or yield leading to negative NPVs. The NPVs of the double and triple row systems with covers were similar over an 11-year period (?3198 and ?5848, respectively) and higher than the NPV of the covered single row system(?7264). IRRs for the double and triple row systems with covers were also similar (22 and 21%, respectively), but for the single row-covered system the IRR was 15%. The break-even price for the double and triple row-covered systems at the expected yields was between ?.87 and ?.88 per kilogram.