Economics of drip irrigation of olives in Turkey

Abstract

Agricultural growers need investment and cost guidelines for drip irrigation to evaluate the economics of getting crops into production as quickly as possible and to minimise economic losses from drought during the productive life of an olive orchard. The benefits of irrigation may include; better olive survival, earlier crop production, greater yields, efficient nutrient distribution, less plant stress, reduced yield variability and improved crop quality. This research was conducted to help olive growers make decisions regarding investments in drip irrigation systems. This analysis was aimed at the farm business level to provide an economic rationale for investing in drip irrigation systems. The net present value (NPV) criterion was used to determine the discounted break-even investment results from published responses to drip irrigation systems. Growers with typical drip irrigation systems can expect investments of US$ 2244 ha(-1) with 1.6 ha blocks of olives. Analysis of survey findings indicate that net present value was US$ 3464 ha(-1) after an initial investment of US$ 2244 ha(-1).