Cultivation and Processing of Modern Superfood—Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) in Slovak Republic
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- The selected economic indicators (revenues per ha, costs per ha, economic result per ha, average profitability of revenues, average profitability of costs) of the black chokeberry shall achieve more favourable values compared to conventional crops (wheat, barley, maize) grown in the maize production area.
- The more economical choice for a business entityis processing the harvest of Aronia melanocarpa in the form of fruit juices compared to the alternative of selling the fresh fruit.
- The purchasing of a harvester for collection of Aronia melanocarpa production (mechanized fruit collection) may result in savings of personnel costs for harvesting, which will be reflected in a high profitability of costs.
2. Materials and Methods
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- Preparation of the land before the establishment of the plantation, which consists of improving the physical and chemical properties of the soil. The deep plowing carried out in the autumn and the subsequent processing of the soil into a favourable structure is important.
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- Fertilization is provided by both organic (manure) and inorganic fertilizers (superphosphate 18%, potassium sulphate, ammonium). This is one of the reasons why higher yields are achieved.
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- Based on professional knowledge and practical experience, each shrub of Aronia melanocarpa needs at least 5 liters of water after planting; based on this empirical knowledge, drip irrigation shall be built in order to achieve higher annual yields per hectare.
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- Fruit collection shall be carried out through a harvester.
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- Hop gardens—land planted with hops;
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- Vineyards—land on which vineyards are grown;
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- Fruit trees planted on a continuous plot of land with an area of more than 0.25 ha in a density of at least 90 trees per ha;
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- Fruit bushes planted on a continuous plot of land with an area of more than 0.25 ha in a density of at least 1000 bushes per ha [27].
2.1. Quantification of Project Investment Expenditures
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- Costs in the year of planting;
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- Ttreatment costs in the second and third year of vegetation
- (a)
- Assessing the investment using net present value
- (b)
- Assessing the investment using an internal rate of return
- (c)
- Discounting as a part of dynamic investment calculations
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- Low-risk projects—the discount rate will be 1–3% lower than company’s cost of capital;
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- Projects with average risk—the discount rate will be equal to the company’s cost of capital;
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- High-risk projects—the discount rate will be 2–5% higher than average cost of capital.
2.2. Analysis of Break-Even Point
3. Results
3.1. Parametrization of Project Inputs
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- The area of the projected plantation is 10 hectares. In our case, we calculated the alternative without the cost associated with acquiring the land.
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- The spacing of bushes in the plantation is 3.5 × 1.5 m, which represents 1550 shrubs per hectare. In the model, we consider the even planting of the Viking, Nero and Mičurin cultivars. This planting clip was chosen because of the mechanized harvesting of the fruit and the consequent need for larger gaps between the rows.
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- We planned for expenses associated with the acquisition of drip irrigation in the model, which will contribute a higher yield per hectare.
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- Three alternatives for finalizing production of Aronia melanocarpa are compared. “Alternative A” represents the sale of the crop to either the final consumer or the processor for further processing (fresh fruit). “Alternative B” represents the finalization of production in the form of apple–aronia juice (ratio 25% aronia–75% apple). “Alternative C” represents the finalization of production in the form of apple–aronia juice (ratio 50% aronia–50% apple). We planned for the pressing and packaging of the juice using the supplier’s method.
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- The first growing year–year of planting;
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- Soil fertilization–application of organic (manure) and inorganic (superphosphate 18%, potassium sulphate, caliche ammonium) fertilizers, the subsequent work of tractors and machines related to soil fertilization (transport, distribution and spreading of manure and industrial fertilizer);
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- Preparatory work–deep plowing, covering of areas for planting, stone collection, land surveying;
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- Planting of the plantation–purchase of planting material, import and planting of cultivars, woods chips and its application to flower beds.
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- Cutting shrubs;
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- Mowing between the rows (6 times a year);
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- Consumption of industrial fertilizers;
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- Spreading of industrial fertilizers.
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- Mowing between the rows;
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- Annual cutting of the shrubs;
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- Annual fertilization costs;
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- Harvester maintenance costs;
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- Depreciation;
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- Disposal of the plantation at the end of its life;
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- Personnel costs for mechanized fruit harvesting (workers’ wages);
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- Personnel costs for manual fruit picking;
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- Other harvesting costs (tractor work, transport of fruit from the plantation);
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- In “Alternative B” and “Alternative C”, the processing of juices will be provided externally (includes the pressing of Aronia melanocarpa, the pressing of apples, the cost of raw material–apples and cost of bags).
3.2. Parametrization of Production and Yields from Plantation
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- Juice in various proportions (100% Aronia melanocarpa, 33% Aronia melanocarpa–33% sea buckthorn, 33% apple);
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- Tea—which is made from Aronia melanocarpa marc, which contains the most antioxidants, anthocyanins and has anticancer effects;
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- Jam—a combination of Aronia melanocarpa–figs–cognac, Aronia melanocarpa–pear–orange or Aronia melanocarpa–cinnamon;
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- Dried fruits;
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- Wine from Aronia melanocarpa.
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- The most economically efficient option is the implementation of “Alternative B”, where the grower processes the whole production in the form of juices in a ratio of 1:3 (25% Aronia melanocarpa–75% apple). Additionally, when we compare “Alternative A” and “Alternative C”, the economically more advantageous option is the realization of production in the form of fruit juice in a ratio of 1:1 (50% Aronia melanocarpa–50% apple).
- The selected economic indicators (revenue, costs, economic result per ha, average profitability on revenue and average profitability on costs) of Aronia melanocarpa using an intensive cultivation method reach more economically interesting values compared to the selected conventional crops (wheat, barley and maize) grown in a maize production area.
- The procurement of a collector for harvesting Aronia melanocarpa (mechanized fruit harvesting) will be reflected in the high cost-effectiveness, which was achieved in “Alternative A” up to 547%.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Item | Measure Unit | Cost per 1 Ha (€) | Cost per 10 Ha (€) |
---|---|---|---|
Costs in the 1st year of planting | ha | 34,687 | 252,568 |
Costs in the 2nd year of vegetation | ha | 1225 | 12,247 |
Costs in the 3rd year of vegetation | ha | 1229 | 12,288 |
Total | ha | 37,140 | 277,103 |
Indicator/Alternative | A | B | C |
---|---|---|---|
Payback period | 6.56 | 6.09 | 6.41 |
Average return on revenues (%) | 84.55 | 58.30 | 65.19 |
Average return on costs (%) | 547.07 | 139.81 | 187.29 |
Net present value (€) | 1,867,518 | 2,649,639 | 1,879,893 |
Internal rate of return | 39.33% | 46.62% | 40.03% |
Break-even point | 13,515 kg | 18,656 L | 12,619 L |
Crop | Wheat | Maize | Barley | Black Chokeberry | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alternative | A | B | C | |||
Revenues per hectare (€) | 804 | 995 | 770 | 44,754 | 89,271 | 58,027 |
Costs per hectare (€) | 831 | 971 | 757 | 6916 | 37,225 | 20,198 |
Economic result per hectare (€) | −26 | 24 | 13 | 37,838 | 52,046 | 37,829 |
Return on costs (%) | −3.18 | 2.47 | 1.78 | 547.07 | 139.81 | 187.29 |
Return on revenues (%) | −3.28 | 2.41 | 1.75 | 84.55 | 58.30 | 65.19 |
Alternative | Average NPV | Standard Deviation |
---|---|---|
A | 1,732,612 | 1,084,120 |
B | 3,006,585 | 1,691,469 |
C | 2,120,211 | 1,275,798 |
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Gurčík, Ľ.; Bajusová, Z.; Ladvenicová, J.; Palkovič, J.; Novotná, K. Cultivation and Processing of Modern Superfood—Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) in Slovak Republic. Agriculture 2023, 13, 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030604
Gurčík Ľ, Bajusová Z, Ladvenicová J, Palkovič J, Novotná K. Cultivation and Processing of Modern Superfood—Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) in Slovak Republic. Agriculture. 2023; 13(3):604. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030604
Chicago/Turabian StyleGurčík, Ľubomír, Zuzana Bajusová, Jana Ladvenicová, Jozef Palkovič, and Katarína Novotná. 2023. "Cultivation and Processing of Modern Superfood—Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) in Slovak Republic" Agriculture 13, no. 3: 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030604