Partial Budget Analysis of Effects of Crop Management Intensity on Profitability of Three Watermelon Cultivars

Abstract

ABSTRACT A field study on watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunberg) Matsumura and Nakai] in 1997, 1999, and 2000 revealed that management intensity affected profitability. Management intensity reflected a combination of cultural practices and levels of usage. Low intensity management (LM) included only soil fertilization and weed control. High intensity management (HM) additionally involved plastic mulch, drip irrigation, insect pest control, and plant disease control. Use of partial budget analysis simplified evaluation of the effect of management intensity on profitability, which was defined as a difference in net return between HM and LM. The difference in net return between HM and LM (Δπ) was based on market price (P), changes in yield (ΔY), and changes in production cost (ΔI) due to increased intensity of management: Δπ = P × ΔY - ΔI. We used means of daily wholesale market price for midseason (July to August) at Dallas, TX, for seeded and seedless red melons each year, means of yield difference betwe...