الفهرس 
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Abstract
SUMMARY
The economic importance of the horticultura! crops
in the Egyptian agriculture has increased during the last years.
Promoting the production of these crops is considered one of the
rna st important pillars 0 f the Egyptian contemporary agricultural
policy .Therefore, the intensification of agriculture, which
depends mainly on the protected cultivation ,is an inevitable
solution due to the limited resources of land and water and also
the continuous increase of the local food demand as a result of
rapid growth of population. The modern trends of the Egyptian
policy go for expanding the protected cUlt~vation either through
the greenhouses or the tunnels in both the new reclaimed lands
or the old ones on the expense of the traditional cultivgtion •
especially when applying the economic reform programs in the
agricultural sector and setting free the agricultural price policy.
This research aims at studying the economies of the
horticultural crops production in the greenhouses and the tunnels
compared with the traditional cultivation. This is through a study
of the economic efficiency of the agricultural resources used for
the three kinds of cultivations. This stUdy aims also at estimating
the production functions and studying the optimal size which
minimizes the average costs for each produced unit and theoptimal
size which maximizes the producers’s profits. It helps to estimate
the elasticity of production to determine the economic optimal
mixtures of the production elements and the elasticity of costs.
This research determines also the value functions of the output,
the capacity revenue and finally the possiblity of eKpanding
the yield capacity • ~s will lead to upgrade the production
efficiency and the economies 0 f such crops • Theretore, digital
indicators and economic criteria can be estimated to support ’the
decision-makers in planning for a successful and advanced policy
for agriculture.
(2)
The research depends mainly on deduction and inductio~
to draw up conclusions • It used the descriptive and quantitive
analysis for the statistical data and expressing the relations
among all variables • It used many analytical tools clnd many
mathematical methods in estimating and measuring • It included
tests for the significance of the slope coefficients and iOrms
used in measuring •
The statistical data necessary for the research were
obtained in the form of time series for the economic variables
during the period from 1979 to 1993 and also ia the form, of
sectional data for the agricultural season 1993 / 1994 • This
has been attained through the field study q~stionaire6 that
were designed especially for this purpose and filled out
during the personal interviews for the subjects of a ttandom
sample of the growers of horticultural crops being studied 1n
the protected and traditional cultivations ( tomatoes, cucmbers,
pepper, cantaloups and ornamental plants ) distributed among the
governorates of the sample dliring’th~ B’llDumr 0 f 1994 • These
governorates were Ismalia, Behira, Giza and Qual10bia •
The research icludes 5 main chapters and an into duction
which includes the problem 0 f the research, the olljec:tives0 f the
research, the tools and methods and the information sources. mere
is a summary of these chapters and the results of the analytical
processes.
THE FIRSlf CBAP’IER
This chapter deals with the situation of the prot.8cl;tc:l
cultivation in the Egyptian agricultural system .It contains 3
sections •
The first section deals with the protected cu1t1Tation
technology • It explains fully the concept 0 f the prlotected cultivation
, the greenhouses, t~e kinds of the protected houses and
their geometrical shapes eit’er individually or collectively •
This section deals with the general specifications that should
be observed in constructing the greenhouses, selecting their
positions and the suitable direction and preparing the location cd hp I2’rpenhmlses and the material. used in their construction •
This section also shows the concept 0 f the tunnels ,their kinds,
usages and the shapes of the arches used in constructiflJ the tunnels
and the way to cover them •
The second section explains the relative importance of
the protected cultivation for the natlional agricultural production.
It shows the development of the national agricUltural production
in the traditional fields of the horticultural crops ’being studied
at the republic level and the most important producing governorates
from 1979 to 1993 • It also shows that the greenhouses came into
use in Egypt since 1977 for r’esearch purposes. In 19’79, the protected
cultivation has been initiated at Quaha ,Qualyobia supported
by the International Bank on an area of 1 feddan. This program has
been expanded to cover an area of 5 fd in 1980. Then, the protected
cultivation has spxeedand reached 4879 greenhouses in 1987 and then
t~ 8731 in 1993 • 1he total area of the greenhouses was 4422 ,”1
and total production reached 40000 tons of crops and 5759 seedlings
in 1993 .Regarding the relative importance of the tunnels for the
agrlcul tural pro due tion, it has been shown that its total area was
163.7 fd in 1988 and then reached 32498 fd in 1993 at, the republic
level • Most. of the tunnels have been. concentrated in,Isma1.ia,(73.03%
of the total area in the whole Egypt in the same fear).
The third section reviews the most important
studies related to the subject of the protected cu), t1.vatioJIi:n. the
E.,.ptian agricultural system. f)fuesestudies showed that vegetable
production is seasonal and th1.sleads to a shortage i.n the supply
for local consumption in certain seasons • The production of cucumber
and pepper in the traditional fields decreases in thElperiod from
Jan. to Apr. Such pe-iods in which the trad1 tional production decline
is the most suitable periods for the protected cUltivation. Similarly.
these studies shows that the best months for exportulg thecucumber ar
the months of Dec., Feb ••and Apr.,for !bmatoes,Dec. ~~d Jan. and for
pepper the months of Dec.and~ar,.These are the most suitable period~
for the protected cultivart:1oll• Therefore, we can de]~end on the
protected cultivation not only in filling the gap in the local production
in the decline periods of the traditional cultivation,but al~
in increasing tltB exports to the Arab countries during winter months
of Dec.,Jan.,Feb. and March.
(4)
THE SEOOND CliAPTER
This chapter deals With the field research e:am.ple•
It displays the main steps to select the research sample in
both the protected and traditional cultivations. Also, it
shows the methods of collecting the data from the sample individuals
• On selecting the research sample, certain imprtant
bases were put into consideration to represent the community
well • The most important basis waS to specify the framework
of the research area at the republic level. The greenhouses
were 8731 with total area 0 f 4421594 1112. in 1993 and t:tl~
total area cultivated with the crops in question (toaatoes,
cucumber, pepper and cantaloup) in the traditional cultivation
was 350923, 44623, 43954 and 29129 fd,respectively in the same
year at the republic leve1 • The governorates of Egy:pt have
been divided. into 2 groups: the Upper Egypt group and the Lower
Egypt group in order to reflect the differentiatio~ of the
production factors like temperature ,soil and moisture. The
production units in both the protected and traditional cultivations
were diYided aceording to their management teams whether
public or private sector to study the effect of the manage.ent
on the economies of both protected and traditional cUl1t;iTations.
Then, the governorates were selected to be Ismalia, Bebira, and
Qualyobia for the Lower Egypt and Giza for Upper Egypt. The’
sample included 247 landowners , of which 91 possess 658 green
houses of which 287 are public sector and 371 privatE~ sector •
The tunnel sample,owned wholly by the private sector. included
60 landowners cultivating an area of 33.21 fdS. The sample of
the traditional cultivation included 96 landowners ( private
sector) cultivating an area of 116.2 fdS,and 10 landowner
(public sector ) cultivating ornamental plants on an area of
19.20 res ,
THETBID CIlAP’lER •
The study of the p$duction costs is the corneze tene
in determining the production efficiency • Therefore, this
chapter deals with estimating the production costs functions
for the crops in question an4 this makes us aware it the resources
employed in producing the sample crops during the season.
1993 /1994 were used to obtain the optimal production of such
crops or not • The functional relations were calculated between
the total production costs ,including ren~ , as a subordinate
variable and the feddan yield as a main variable accordinl to,
the data collected from the sample units • The average and
minimal functions were derived and the production costs elasticity
were estimated for each crop in the three kinds elf cultivations
: the greenhouses , the tunnels and the traditiond cuf••·•.
tivation either for the pUblic or the pr1va~e sector. 1he results
shows that all the growers of the crops in question,except the
tunnel cucumber growers and the private sector pepper greenhouses,
haven’ t reached yet the most efficient production and ·themost
economically-feasible production • In other words. tne haven’t
entered the economic .production stage ye~ • This indicates that the production functions for these crops either in the protected
or traditional cultivations are still passing the non-economic
stage. This gives the opportunity for the growers to expand
their investments to increase their production and double their
profits through rechannelling their agricul~ural resources to
upgrade their economic and production. efficiency •
This section concerns with estimating the pn»duction
functions for the horticultural crops of the E~search sample for
the agricultural seaSon 1993/1994 to measure the relation between
the inputs and outputs which contributed in this,Function.. It
deals with the factors affecting production which means the ecOnomic
efficiency of using resources and the relation between
revenue and capacity. The well-known statistical technique called
the multiple slope was used to represent these relations. The
study deals with estimating two mathematical figures for production
functions and tlley are the l~ear model and the doubl.e logarithmic
model which can be tr,.sferred to Cup-Douglas fUBct10n that.
is known in the econonc usafliS •
(6)
The step-wise analysis results showed that so••
inputs have positive effect on product1oD while others have
a negative one and this indicates that thier minimal productivity
exceeded the stage of the economic.production as a result of
overusing it • Undoubtedly, determining the optimal economic
mixtures of the production. elements under the conditions of the
protected cultivation and the trad1 tional one to produce the
crops in quest:1.onby the public and private sectors necess1 tates
refering to the production. functions for each case and balanc1ag
the production elements •
THEFInJl ClIAP’BR.•.
This chapter deals with the economies of produc:S:.ngthe
horticul tural crops in the research sample • It contains 2 .ain
sections .The first section concerns with the economic efficiency
for using the land for producing the horticultural crops in the
selected sample in both protected and traditional cultivations •
Increasing the production efficiency is a main factor in the
economic development plan. Five criteria were used for aeasuring
the efficiency and they are as follows : The average productivity,
the Average production costs, the Average total revenue” the
Average net revenue and the Proportion ..of the average net revenue
to the total costs for the most important. crops of tme research
sample and this is call.ed. the investment coefficient or the profitability
of the Egyptian Pound •
The productiVity per feddan in the greenhouses 1s four
to five times the quantity of its counterpart in the tradit1.onal
cultivation and 2 to 2.25 times of that of the tunnels • ~s
indicates that the pro duct10n; of the tunnels is 2 t1meEIof that
of the traditional cultivat1on( open 1and ). Also, it 1s cl.ear
now that the revenue of the t1lJll’lels crops exce.ed its counterpart
in both the greenhouses and th. open land by aore than twice •
’llhis indicates that investaentJ.D the tunnels is auch better from
the inv.estor’s or the ordinary jSrOwer’s point 0 f view •
The second aeetlon concerns with the feasibility study
of investment in the projects of the protected cul’tivation of the
horticul tural crops in the research sample • ~1s aims at contri-
to rechannelling using resources towards the best use • The green
houses and the tunnels represent integerated production units that
are characterized by rapid capital turnover. The study shows that
the tunnelS’ exceecfthe greenhouses concerning their feaaibili t.y study
for the investor • HOwever, from a nationalistic point of view ,
there is a bad need for the greenhouses for the little space they
occupy and their ample production which means saving a plenty of
lands for growing many other crops in the traditional cultivation.
REOOMMENDA’l:IOHS
In the light of the conclusiaos reached by the research,
the study ~ecommends the following :-
l-Encouraging the private sector and supporting it in
the processes of using and CUltivating the greenhouses and the
tunnels in the reclaimed lands as it has proven its efficiency in
managing such kinds of production units.
2-Depending on the protected cultivation in increasing the
exports of cucumbers, tomatoes, and pepper to the Arab countries
in winter as the production of the open fields decreases •
3-.A.doptingthe protected cul tivatisB for the-exports
which Means it aims essentially at exporting most of production •
This will be possible through establishing a special association
for this purpose •
4-Upgrading the economic efficiency for the protected
cultivation through decreasing the costs and increasin.g production.
5-Encouraging the pr.1vate investment in the protected
cultivation as it excels the Slvernmental 1nvestaent •
6-Making use of the ,rotected cul,tivation for a longer
period allover the ye~ •