Costs Analysis Report
This report addresses the research carried out on four types of annual crops, which are maize, beans, soybeans, and cassava. The study incorporated the cost and labour requirements and yields the crops produces using both the traditional and advanced methods. Conventional methods of farming are the production of food crops based on indigenous agricultural knowledge while advanced methods of farming are the one that incorporates innovation to steer high yields. Market prices of the crops were researched as well as the determination of the caloric requirements and labour contributions for five male adults. Objective functions and constraints were developed from the data and analyzed through the use of LINDO software.
To optimize the functions generated, LINDO analytical model was utilized, .it is a comprehensive tool that is designed to make the building and to solve quadratically constrained functions. This way, to develop an integer optimization models if quicker and faster as well as more efficient (“Lindo Story,” n.d.). The model has the following advantages:
It is an easy model expression as it helps minimize the development time. It allows for a more comfortable building, making it easier to understand and to maintain. It offers convenient data options as the model provides for information directly from the database and spreadsheets. It is a powerful solver applied in operations research, unlike other models, as it tackles both the constrained and unconstrained quadratic equations as well as optimization. Additionally, it offers extensive documentation and helps as it provides all the necessary tools that help in running quickly and smoothly (“Lindo Story,” n.d). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
| Market price (traditional farming) $/kg | Market price (advanced farming) $/kg | |
| Maize (M) | $0.40 | $0.50 |
| Beans(B) | $0.70 | $0.80 |
| Soybean(S) | $0.90 | $1.00 |
| Cassava (C) | $0.71 | $0.81 |
| Yields (traditional farming methods) Kg/ha | Yields (advanced farming methods) Kg/ha | |
| Maize (m) | 1200 | 3500 |
| Beans (b) | 700 | 2000 |
| Soybean (s) | 500 | 2500 |
| Cassava (C) | 800 | 3000 |
Acreage to be planted
1200m+700b+500s+800c<3200
3500m+2000b+2500s+800c<8800
Optimization equation
M+b+s+c
| Cost of production (including labour) | Traditional farming | Advanced farming |
| Maize | 800 | 1100 |
| Beans | 600 | 1200 |
| Soybean | 850 | 1150 |
| Cassava | 650 | 1250 |
800m+600b+850s+650c<2900
1100m+1200b+1150s+1250c<4700
Optimize
M+b+s+c
Labour contributions
Household size-5 male adults who can work for 8hrs per day
| Household intake | The amount consumed per day | |
| Maize | 1280 calories (1.36kg) | |
| Beans | 1280 calories (1.36kg) | |
| Soybeans | 260 calories (0.22kg) | |
| Cassava | 1180 calories (0.275kg) | |
| Calories per day | 4000 | |
| Calories of household per day | 20000 calories/day | |
| Total calories per household per year | 7280000 |
The household consist of 5 adult males who can work for eight hours a day. Therefore, in one year, the labour hours are 14600hrs.
1.36m+1.36b+0.22kg+0.275kg
The objective function becomes 1200m+700b+500s+800c<14600
| Total crops consumed | Daily | Annually |
| Maize | 6.8kg | 2478.6 |
| Beans | 6.8kg | 2478.6 |
| Soybeans | 1.1kg | 400.95 |
| Cassava | 1.375kg | 501.19 |
| Total annually | 5859.34 |
Total production consumed annually is 5859.34kg
Annual household income = $5032 (http://www.fao.org/3/i8356en/I8356EN.pdf)
Profit maximization (max profit minus consumption)
| Variable | Maize m | Beans b | Soybeans s | Cassava c |
| Traditional(Sold) | 1193.2 | 693.2 | 498.9 | 798.65 |
| Traditional(Consumed) | 6.8kg | 6.8kg | 1.1kg | 1.35kg |
| Advanced(Sold) | 1.36kg | 1.36kg | 0.22kg | 0.275kg |
| Advanced(Consumed) | 3498.6 | 1998.64 | 2499.78 | 2999.73 |
The table represents total production consumed as well as the overall output sold to generate income for the household each day.
Traditional methods require less machinery to carry out land preparation, sowing, fertilizer, weeding, harvesting and processing. Cassava requires an average of 20man/day total per hectare. Beans require 10man/day per hectare. Maize requires ten men per day per hectare, while soybeans require 15man/day per hectare. Advanced methods incorporate machinery and thus the need to maintain and additional cost of initial adding of the machine to the farm. Fuel costs in a third world country are approximately $0.061. Beans and soybeans take two steps of harvesting, while maize takes only one. New combine harvester can successfully harvest cassava in one step. Therefore, the average costs of advance methods incorporate the initial costs of the machine, fuel and maintenance. The average price of a tractor range from $25000 to $50000, while combine harvester cost pus add-on features is $50000 (“Harvesting,” n.d.). In beans production, fuel costs per hectare is $63, and the total costs of fuel is $155.67 per acre.
References
Harvesting. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ics-agri.com/combine-harvesters-bulb-harvesters.html
The Lindo Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.lindo.com/index.php/company/the-lindo-story
Irrigation: Meaning, Traditional Methods, Modern Methods with Videos. (2019, July 12). Retrieved from https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/crop-production-and-management/irrigation/