Assessment of the production costs and economic viability of pecan nut production: Assessment of a case in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

The production of pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] is increasing in Brazil, especially in the Rio Grande do Sul, which accounts for approximately 70% of the country’s production. The importance of pecan farming for the state, particularly for the southern half, which is characterized by extensive livestock farming and the monoculture of rice and soybeans, is related both to the possibility of increasing diversification and to the aggregation of extra income in rural areas. In this context, this research estimated the production costs and economic viability of a small family property, which is the common scale of pecan production in the Rio Grande do Sul. The production costs were collected from a real farm for a 7-year period, and then projected until the 30th year. All the monetary values were updated for June 2022, and the production cost methodology determined by the Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB) was adopted. The results showed that the enterprise was not economically viable over a 30-year horizon. However, with a 23.62% increase in average productivity or a 21.51% increase in the real selling price, the enterprise reaches the break-even point in the analyzed period.