An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGIES IN UGANDA 145
Table 10.3 Annualized banana production costs and returns in each of the six production systems
High productivity Medium productivity Low productivity
Budget/cost components
Average
Subsistence
Subsistence
Semicommercial
Semicommercial
Semicommercial
Subsistence
Average plantation cycle (years) 31 80 40 30 20 10 5
Average yield (ton/ha) 12 25 17 18 9 11 5
Farm-gate price (Ush/20-kg bunch) a 1,417 2,080 1,680 1,200 1,140 1,200 1,200
Total revenue (Ush/ha) 850,000 2,600,000 1,428,000 1,080,000 513,000 660,000 300,000
Labor cost (Ush/ha) 322,100 266,846 269,456 420,280 364,420 355,300 256,300
Other input cost (Ush/ha) n.a. b n.a. n.a. 521,500 126,500 253,000 n.a.
Total cost (Ush/ha) 472,267 266,846 269,456 941,780 490,920 608,300 256,300
Net return (Ush/ha) 624,566 2,333,154 1,158,544 138,220 22,080 51,700 43,700
Unit production cost (Ush/kg) 40 11 16 52 55 55 51
Sources: Derived by authors from National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) surveys, program documents, and expert
knowledge from NARO scientists.
Notes: Budgets were constructed from a complete annual input-and-output analysis over the plantation life cycle (to a maximum of 30
years) for each production system; n.a. indicates not available.
a For farm households whose consumption exceeds production, the relevant price is more properly the market purchase price. For the sake of
simplicity, however, we have used the farm-gate prices as the basis of all budget-related calculations.
b Average not computed because of missing values.
Technology Scenarios
We began by identifying important subcategories
of banana production systems as
determined by potential productivity and
commercial orientation of producers. Based
on a characterization scheme used by researchers
in Uganda (Tushemereirwe et al.
2001), three banana productivity zones were
distinguished (high, medium, and low). 1
Within each zone, semicommercial and
subsistence farmers were typified, as shown
in Table 10.4, by consulting available data
on use practices and technologies. Each of
the six subcategories was specified as a
separate component of the overall industry
supply in the IFPRI-DREAM 2 model as a
basis for all technology simulations. here> 10.4near 1,200-m.a.s.l. stratum
used in the design of the farm-level survey.
2
IFPRI-DREAM (Dynamic Research Evaluation for Management) is a menu-driven software package for
evaluating the economic impacts of agricultural R&D.
3
In reality the choice of investment strategy is not between conventional and transgenic approaches, but involves
both, as explained in Chapter 4. However, scenarios are designed as simple (often polar) examples to
demonstrate the sensitivity of returns to actions, situations, or assumptions.