ESTIMATION OF MARKETING EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTION QUANTITY AT THE BREAK-EVEN POINT FOR COTTON FARMERS IN IRAQ (BAGHDAD PROVINCE: A CASE STUDY)

Abstract

The research aimed to estimate the marketing efficiency and the quantity and value of production at the break-even point for cotton farmers, which is one of the most important criteria for the economic feasibility of farms and the boundary between the losing volume and the profitable volume of production. It also aimed to determine the trend and time development for the area, production, and productivity of cotton in Iraq and Baghdad province. Initial field data for the last agricultural season of 2016 were used, and collected in 2022 by designing a questionnaire for cotton farmers in Baghdad province. This data encompassed the entire process, from the beginning of crop cultivation until its marketing, for a simple random sample of farmers, constituting about 18% of the study population (333 farmers) distributed over various agricultural areas specialized in cotton cultivation in the province. The results showed that the quantitative break-even point for the unit area was about 166 kg/dunum, which is the minimum required to cover the costs of cultivating one dunum of the crop, ensuring a net profit for the farmer. The monetary break-even point for the unit area amounted to about 202,432 Iraqi dinars/dunum, equivalent to about 135 US dollars. Notably, the average productivity of a dunum in the research sample was about 215 kg/dunum, meaning that the farmers of this crop can achieve profits from cultivating one dunum of 49 kg of cotton. The research recommends that sample farmers should pre-prepare and plan for all production processes related to the crop, starting from cultivation till the final marketing process.

Keywords

• profitable volume
• losing volume
• marketing performance
• marginal concept
• total concept