الوضع الاقتصادي لزراعة محصول البطاطس الشتوي بمحافظة الإسكندرية في ظل جائحة كورونا

Abstract EN

The research aimed to studying the economic situation of growing Winter Potato crop in Alexandria Governorate during Corona Pandemic.

The research depends on the descriptive and quantitative analysis, applied for the primary data that was collected in Alexandria Governorate during the 2020/2021 season, Through two questionnaires specifically designed for the topic of the research, the first is for the Winter Potato crop farmers in the Amerya Agricultural Administration, and the second is for wholesalers in the Nozha Market for wholesale trade of vegetables and fruits and retailers dealing with wholesalers.

The research had come to some important results and conclusions can be summarized a; (1) The average total production costs per feddan for winter potatocrop in the research sample was about 29.31 thousand pounds, and the average fedden yield was about 13.91 tons/feddan, with an average farm price about 875.83 pounds per ton and it is a very low price than it was an average for previous years due to the Corona pandemic and the average total revenue was about 12.18 thousand pounds per feddan.

(2) The average net return, Value added, Relative profitability, Benefit-Cost ratio, The rate of return on the invested pound and the Gross margin per feddan of winter potato crop was about -17 thousand pounds/feddan, -2087 pounds, -86.61%, 0.42, -0.58 pounds and -7.60 thousand pounds Arrangement, this indicates the existence of great losses that farmers in the research sample suffered due to several reasons related to the existence of the Corona pandemic, which led to an increase in the quantity supplied in the local market and thus the collapse of the farm price for it according to the theory of supply and demand.

(3) The economic efficiency for the winter potato crop production resources which the parameters were proven significant are: the number of human labor, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer and the amount of pesticides at about -0.656, 1.32 and 1.37 Arrangement, which indicates that winter potato crop farmers can increase profits from crop production by increasing the user from the nitrogen fertilizer and the pesticides and decreasing the number of human labor.

(4) The average absolute marketing margin between the wholesale price and the farm price was about L.E.

689.17 for ton for winter potato crop, as the retail price and the wholesale and reached about L.E.

1425 for ton, while this is between the retail price and the farm price and was about L.E.

2114.17 for ton.

(5) The average farmer's share, the wholesaler and the retailer from the consumer pound reached about 29.29%, 23.05% and 47.66% Arrangement, and from this it becomes that the middlemen share represents about 70.71%.

(6) The average marketing efficiency factor of the winter potato crop in the research sample decreased to 50%, reached about 49.92%, due to the low price that the farmer gets on the one hand, and the high total marketing margins on the other hand.

(7) The production problems faced by the winter potato farmers in the research sample were five problems, the most important of them is the lack of effective pesticides of good reputation as a result of placing restrictions on imports due to the spread of the Corona pandemic at a rate of about 90%, and the number of proposals to overcome these problems were represented in Five proposals, the most important of them is the provision of good pesticides with multiple sales outlets, representing about 85%.

(8) The marketing problems that the winter potato growers faced in the research sample were represented in four problems, the most important of them is the decrease in the farm price of the winter potato crop due to the increase in the quantity supplied due to the spread of the Corona pandemic by about 98.33%, and the number of farmers ’proposals to overcome these problems Four proposals, the most important of them is the Ministry of Agriculture providing agricultural data and information to direct farmers to cultivate areas that achieve a balance between demand and supply expectations in the agricultural season so that there is no deterioration in the agricultural price and the farmer is harmed by a rate of about 96.67%.

Lastly, in light of the results the research can create many recommendations such as; (1) All parties join hands to develop a clear plan to achieve a balance between demand and supply of the potato crop according to the circumstances of the Corona pandemic, and preventing excessive storage to maintain prices, (2) Activating the role of contractual cultivation of the potato crop, and setting an indicative minimum prices to protect farmers from price fluctuations, (3) Establishing government refrigerators to accommodate increased production, (4) Working to increase the farmer's share from the consumer's pound, by reducing marketing costs, especially the profits of intermediaries, (5) Attention to farmers' opinions about the problems of production and marketing and attention to their suggestions about the possibility of overcoming these problems.