Economic performance of specialized field crops farms producing sweet corn

Abstract

Sweet corn is not commonly produced at Serbian family farms, although it has a significant economic potential. Besides, there is a lack of research related to economic performance of the sweet corn production. Therefore, the goal of this research was to determine economic effects of introducing sweet corn in the sowing structure of specialized field crops farms in Serbia. The analysis was performed on the model of family farm specialized in the field crops production. Determination of average gross margin for appropriate field crops was followed by the optimization of farms' sowing structure (by applying linear programming approach). Authors analyzed three variants depending on sweet corn participation in the sowing structure. It was determined that the optimization itself increases the use of labor force and positively influences the level of farm gross margin. By combining the optimization with the introduction of sweet corn in the sowing structure even better results are achieved. Therefore, family farms specialized in the field crops production should be encouraged to extend their sowing structure by producing sweet corn. The paper offers an important insight into the combination of crops which can improve an overall economic performance of family farms.