Grape-producing farmers in the Republic of Macedonia can improve profits substantially by applying the practices of their most successful colleagues. This conclusion is presented in a thesis by Gordana Manevska-Tasevska at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The thesis contains a survey of farm level economic efficiency in a major wine district, and the results are discussed in relation to government policy measures for improved competitiveness in the sector.
A strengthened competitiveness among grape growers is a prioritized goal in the rural development programme in the Republic of Macedonia*. In an attempt to evaluate goal achievement in this programme, and to suggest improvements, Gordana Manevska-Tasevska from SLU has carried out an analysis of economic efficiency at 300 commercial grape-producing family farms in the district of Tikvesh.
The thesis concludes that profitability can be improved substantially, if farmers apply the practices of the most successful farmers. Costs can be reduced by 30 per cent through improved input management, and farmers who manage to increase the value of their outputs can increase revenue with 50 per cent.
Compared to the average farm, the most successful farmers used a smaller area, irrigated a smaller proportion of the total area, used less hired labour and they used and paid less for inputs. Still they produced grapes of higher quality and larger harvests per hectare.
Among the farmer categories that were technically more efficient were: younger farmers, farmers with profit maximisation objectives, farmers with lower expectations of a better future for farming and farmers that invested in increased competence.
In her thesis Gordana Manevska-Tasevska discusses how her efficiency analysis can be used to improve the country’s rural development programme. The results are used both to examine goal achievement in the current programme and to identify areas that need to be prioritised in the future. One of her conclusions is that policy support for improving the managerial and knowledge capacity of farmers is a justified priority.
This thesis is a result of an ongoing cooperation (UniCoop) between the Department of Economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) at St Cyril and Methodius University in the Republic of Macedonia. The aim of this joint project is to contribute to an improved Macedonian capacity for policy formulation and for performing economic analyses related to trade, marketing, production, and processing in the agricultural sector.
* Also referred to as The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Gordana Manevska-Tasevska, Department of Economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, defends her thesis Efficiency analysis of commercial grape producing family farms in the Republic of Macedonia. Influence of selected targets from the rural development programme on Friday, January 20, 2012 at 10:00.
Venue: Loftets Hörsal, SLU, Ultuna, Uppsala, Sweden
Opponent: Dr Matthew Gorton, Business School, Newcastle University, UK
More information: Gordana Manevska-Tasevska, Gordana.Tasevska@slu.se
Link to the complete thesis (pdf):
http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/8496/
Link to UniCoop:
http://www.slu.se/en/faculties/nl/about-the-faculty/departments/department-of-economics/research/projects/unicoop/
Press image (may be published without charge in articles about the dissertation):
Gordana Manevska-Tasevska. Private photograph
Press releases from SLU:
http://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/press-room/