Economic analysis of tomato production in geothermal greenhouses: A case study of Afyonkarahisar province, Turkey

The total geothermal greenhouse area is 3908 decares in Turkey. Afyonkarahisar province where the research was conducted is ranked 3rd (17.01%) in terms of geothermal greenhouses area in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to carry out an economic analysis for tomato production in geothermal greenhouses in Afyonkarahisar province which has a high potential with regards to geothermal greenhouse production.The primary material of the study consisted of original data collected by face-to-face questionnaires conducted with 20 producers carrying out their geothermal greenhouse production activities at Sandıklı district of Afyonkarahisar province. Enterprises are determined according to the full counting method. Since the sizes of the areas owned by the enterprises differed, it was decided to classify them into different groups in order to ensure that the study population is homogeneous. Accordingly, enterprises were classified as group 1 (1-30 decares; 11 enterprises) and group 2 (31+ decares; 9 enterprises). According to the results of the research, it was determined that the average greenhouse area was 39.85 decares and all farms produce according to the soilless agricultural culture. According to the average of all farms, tomato yield was calculated to be 50.05 ton/decare. The establishment cost per decare of geothermal greenhouses was 479 176.41 Turkish Lira (TL) and the majority of this expense consisted of greenhouse construction cost (73.80%). Gross product value per decare was 170 415.81 TL according to the average of all enterprises. Whereas general gross profit, net profit, and relative return per decare were 102 424.62 TL, 49 016.01 TL, and 1.40 respectively. According to the profitability criteria, it was determined that both the 1st group and the 2nd group made a profit. However, it was determined that the producers in the 2nd group were more advantageous than the producers in the 1st group in terms of profitability indicators.