Factors related to the economic performance of wheat commercial fields

Abstract

The variability of agronomic performance and of input use level of wheat commercial fields allows the identification of the factors with the greatest contribution to its economic performance. The objective of this work was to identify the main factors related to the variability of economic performance in wheat commercial fields in the Southern Region of Parana State. The study was based on data from 65, 64 and 80 farms in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. The variables evaluated were: costs of fertilizer, herbicide, insecticide, fungicide and seed; grain yield; and simplified gross margin (SGM). Data were subjected to Principal Components Analysis followed by Cluster Analysis. The variability of wheat economic performance was mainly related to grain yield, fertilizers cost and seed costs. Grain yield is one of the most important factors to determination of economic performance of wheat commercial fields in the studied region, and a greater investment in fertilizers and with seeds can decrease it. It must be considered that the cost reduction might be obtained with suitable management practices, and the contribution of items of cost analyzed to economic performance may be different in each cropping season probably due to variations of the cost profile and grain yield.