The economics of modern plum orchards in the Czech Republic

Abstract

This paper deals with an evaluation of the economics in two commercial plum orchards which were established between 1993-1997 using dense tree-spacing and modern principles of orchard management. This evaluation was conducted in 1994-2004 with the following cultivars: Bluefre, Common Prune, Čačanska lepotica, Čačanska najbolja, Gabrovska, Hamanova, Opal, President, Ruth Gerstetter,Stanley, and Valjevka. Orchard establishment costs, pruning costs, annual orchard operating and pest management costs and returns up to 11 years of growth are given. A denser planting had a positive influence on total yields per hectare with higher returns. Costs per ton of fruit mostly varied between 4 and 7 thousand CZK, whereas farmer prices fluctuated between 7.6 to 13.6 thousand CZK per ton. The highest returns after seven years of growth from one hectare were exhibited by the cultivar President on rootstock St. Julien A in the spacing 4 × 2.5 m followed by the cultivar Stanley on rootstock Myrobalan and the same spacing.

Keywords

• plum
• cultivars
• yields
• costs
• duration of pruning
• economics
• returns