COST AND YIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN CULTIVATION OF DESSERT APPLES

The Federal Research Station for Arboriculture, Viticulture and Horticulture in Wädenswil has been conducting for 20 years cost and yield investigations in fruit production. At the beginning of these investigations, the determination of the production cost as a basis for agriculture economical interventions of the Government has been in the foreground. Besides that these yield and cost investigations have been used as an instrument of operation planning from the beginning.

The increasing lack of agricultural labour forces and the raising wages are forcing us to mechanize further the production and to simplify therefore our mixed farms. With regard to these operation plannings the determination of rentability was of first importance. Economic investigations of the operation can equally serve as a mean to determine the most efficient cultivation method. They give information about desirable working methods, about the correct use of the means of production and so on.

The fast increasing supply of apples requires a top quality production at the lowest possible costs. At the same time, it is necessary to explore the most profitable possibilities of production with regard to other fruit.

It is obvious that the tax authorities are interested in these investigations too, which is understandable but not desirable. To obtain assured results, we guarantee to our record keeping farms full discretion.

For the time being, these cost and yield investigations are carried out in 160 farms, of which 85 operations are mainly producing dessert apples. In fruit production we face constantly certain yield variations. It is therefore necessary that these surveys are conducted in the same farms for several years. It is also necessary to keep separate records for plantations in early years and for plantations in full production.