A Feasibility Study for Different Crops in a High-tech Greenhouse in Turkey

Turkey is a developing country and has the richest geothermal resources in Europe for greenhouse heating, in almost every part of the country. High-tech greenhouse Investment is going on. Mostly tomatoes are grown in these greenhouses and alternative crops are also taking a lot of interest. This study focuses on the investment and production costs, calculation of return on investment (ROI) and pay-back time of the investment for four different crops(cluster and cherry tomatoes, strawberry and rose) in high-tech soilless greenhouses in a particular region covering the area between 38-40 degrees latitude and 27-30 degrees longitude, west-central part of Turkey, including Manisa, Uşak, Balıkesir and Izmir cities as hightech greenhouses are concentrated in this area. The cluster and cherry tomatoes were considered with inter-planting in a semi-closed greenhouse, strawberry in a traditional venlo type glasshouse and in a gotic type plastic greenhouse and roses in a semi-closed greenhouse. The financial study showed that both cluster and cherry tomatoes were economically feasible, return on investment (ROI) being 18.36% and 20.73%, payback periods of the investments were 5.45 and 4.82 years, respectively for both crops. A sensitivity analysis indicated that both yield/m2 and sales price/Kg were the key factors affecting ROI and payback periods along with production costs. For strawberries, payback periods for venlo type glasshouse and for gotic type plastic greenhouse were 10.61 years and 5.65 years, respectively. This meant that venlo type glasshouse would not be preferred in Turkey for strawberry investment. As for roses, profitability was 14.36% and payback period was 6.97 years, a promising area for investment. The results are expected to help and guide the high-tech greenhouse investors not only in Turkey but also all around the world.

Keywords:Hydroponic; Semi-closed; Greenhouses; Tomato; Strawberry; Rose; Investment; Feasibility; Turkey