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Dynamic economic analysis of greenhouse pepper production on rockwool on a family farm
43-47.Views:121The major part of the pepper growing farms in Hungary operate as family enterprises with areas varying between 1,000 and 3,000 m2. As a result of the small size, their profitability is greatly dependant on the technological level and market circumstances. Most of these farms are characteristically affected by the lack of capital, therefore, they are unable to implement any further developments with their own forces. Greenhouse pepper production on rockwool had already been subjected to analysis earlier in our research, however, those calculations were directed solely at the profitability and efficiency of production. Based on the data from 2004 in 2005 yet another and more profound analysis was set as the objective. Besides the methods already applied before, several dynamic indicators have been introduced which could also be useful for practical applications. The graphs can permit growers to monitor the temporal distribution of the costs incurred and revenues earned during production. Thereby it is easier to plan the costs and more simple to distribute them more rationally over the production period. Our experiences suggest that this sort of analytical method is applicable only in cases where a very careful and precise collection of data is ensured and the results obtained can not be generalised as being valid only for the single farm analysed. Experiences and results, however, make us consider the dynamic economic analysis as being very useful both for beginners and practicing horticulturists.
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Comparison of light yellow fleshed pepper varieties grown on rockwool under unheated forcing conditions
108-110.Views:104Experiments are going on all over the world assisting the joint effort of researchers and practicing specialists to identify the methods which can help either in the reduction of production costs or in the increase of yields.
The task of the growers is to make profitable use of the forcing facilities and to satisfy market demands at an acceptable price by means of improving production technology and applying new scientific, technological and technical information.
For the last few years, rockwool based forcing has been gaining in importance. The subject of our scientific work was the analysis of an important question of this technological variant, the selection of the variety. Besides, we also tried to identify the most suitable pruning technology for the varieties studied.
In Hungary, the highest demand is commonly known to be for the light yellow fleshed varieties which are suitable for stuffed dishes. In the future, due to their special quality and appearance, as well as to the Hungaricum character, they could become important export goods on the European Union market. It was within this variety type that comparison between varieties already common in production (HO F1, HRF F1, Danubia F1) was carried out, trying to get an answer to the question which of the three varieties could be produced with the greatest success. Considering the quantitative and qualitative indicators, it was H6 F1 that proved the best out of the three varieties tested under unheated forcing on rockwool. It excelled the other two varieties both in quality and in average fruit weight, preserving this advantage until the end of the growing period.
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Assessment of fruit firmness of pepper using non-destructive physical measurements, in response to different growing and pruning technologies
59-62.Views:115The European market demands vegetable products of the highest quality and this commercial quality must be maintained till the goods reach the customer. One of these important quality parameters is the fruit firmness of pepper.
The experiments were aimed at to find out the influence of different growing methods (soil or rockwool-based) and pruning technologies (to 1, 2, 3 or 4 shoots) on the yield and fruit firmness of three pepper varieties (HO F1, Karpia Fl and Pritavit F1) which are common in Hungary. Fruit firmness was measured by the non-destructive impact method.
On the basis of the results, in unheated forcing the pruning to 1, 2 or 3 shoots can be suggested for all three varieties, as well as the utilisation of rockwool in their growing.
The non-destructive impact method has been found suitable for testing the fruit firmness of pepper varieties. In the experiments involving different growing mediums pepper stands were found to show significant differences, however the different pruning methods had no significant influence on fruit firmness.
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Investigation of nitrate accumulation in green pepper
21-25.Views:138Pepper, despite being among the vegetables consumed in largest quantities, does not play an important role as a nitrate source due to the low nitrate accumulation capacity of the cultivars grown in Hungary. Iii the classification of the average nitrate levels or that of the detected hazardous levels it can be sorted into the very 'favorable' class not exceeding 200 and 500 mg/kg respectively. The different elements of the production technology, this way the N supply, do not influence significantly the amount of nitrate accumulated within pepper fruits.
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Storability of paprika varieties measured by non-destructive acoustic method
49-53.Views:122During our experiments, the storability of paprika (Capsicum annuum) samples was measured by a non-destructive acoustic method. The aims of our work were the determination of the applicability and reproducibility of the acoustic stiffness method for paprika, the investigation of the optimum measuring conditions. In order to compare the main paprika varieties regarding shelf-life, our further aim was to follow the softening phenomenon or textural changes (i.e. changes in stiffness) of different paprika varieties measured by the nondestructive acoustic stiffness method. Five different varieties of paprika grown in hydroponics growing system were used for the measurements. All paprika varieties were stored at 20 °C for two weeks. Samples were tested on every 2nd or 3rd day. The acoustic method was found to be suitable to follow the softening of paprika samples. The characteristic frequency of the acoustic signal could be well detected and clearly separated from the other vibration peaks. Tapping the top of the paprika was observed to give a clearer and less noisy signal compared to the signal obtained by tapping the sample's shoulder. The acoustic results showed the same tendencies with regard to softening during storage as the impact method showed in our previous experiments.