Cost-Benefit Analysis of Long-Term Cabbage Storage

Abstract

The costs of storing locally grown cabbage for off-season marketing were investigated. Building and equipment costs as well as annual costs associated with the operation of six different hypothetical storage layouts, all with same holding capacity of 600 t, were reviewed. Long term storage of cabbage for marketing during the non-producing seasons on the Montreal market was found to be economically sound since the internal rates of return (IRR) computed were positive and ranged from 17% to 27%. The best time to market the cabbage greatly depended on the storage conditions. The best marketing time for cabbage stored in a room ventilated with outside air (VA), in a room equipped with mechanical refrigeration (RA) and in a room operated under controlled atmosphere (CA) were, respectively, January, March and May. It was also shown that the upgrading of an RA storage room to CA increased the IRR.