关键词:
economic analysis
costs and benefits
grain chilling
insect control
integrated pest management
摘要:
A spreadsheet model was developed to evaluate the economic costs of new post-harvest integrated pest management technologies, such as grain chilling, against traditional pest control methods, such as phosphine fumigation. The model considers 34 factors including electrical power consumption, capital investment cost, chemical costs, and less quantifiable factors such as worker safety, environmental issues, and changes in end-product value. When applied to the storage of popcorn, a high value speciality crop, and wheat, the annual operating costs of chilled aeration compared to phosphine fumigation with ambient aeration were up to 128 and 300% lower, respectively. The effect of high capital investment with low variable costs, as with chilled aeration, was compared to the low capital investment and high variable costs of phosphine fumigation using a multi-year Net Present Cost (NPC) model. For the case studies evaluated, the NPC of chilled aeration ranged from -122 to 197% of that for in-house fumigation with ambient aeration. Chilling of popcorn became economically feasible if a premium of less than one cent per retail bag could be obtained for popcorn labeled post-harvest pesticide-free. Chiller unit prices of US$ 80,000-90,000 were found to be a reasonable capital expenditure for this alternative integrated pest management technology. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.