Ragkos Athanasios, Skordos Dimitrios, Koutouzidou Georgia, Giantsis Ioannis A, Delis Georgios, Theodoridis Alexandros
Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Kourtidou 56-58, 111 45 Athens, Greece.
Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Oct 19;12(20):2832. doi: 10.3390/ani12202832.
This paper examines the financial viability and potential socioeconomic effects of introducing and operating an automated, remote-controlled management system for mussel farms which uses probes of temperature, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity associated with prediction software to demonstrate the potential need for mussel movement between marine areas. This system provides an early warning to farmers regarding the presence of toxins in aquatic ecosystems, thus contributing to saving mussel production and avoidikng significant economic losses. The analysis combines two established methodological tools in agricultural economics (linear programming and cost-benefit analysis) and provides estimates of the Net Present Value of the investment under two scenarios-one reflecting the existing situation and one a possible future situation where the mussel production system is expanded. The results of the analysis reveal the mid- and long-term effects of using the automated system, both of which demonstrate that the system is economically viable even if it contributes to saving mussel production from toxicity occurrence for only one year during its period of operation. The annual gross margin in the first scenario was €386,069 but almost tripled in the second scenario (€1,154,649). In addition, the future development and expansion of the mussel sector will likely be based on larger farms with an entrepreneurial and exporting orientation where risk mitigation systems, such as the one appraised in this paper, can play an important role.
本文探讨了引入和运营贻贝养殖场自动化远程管理系统的财务可行性及其潜在的社会经济影响。该系统利用温度、溶解氧和电导率探头，并结合预测软件，以证明在不同海域之间转移贻贝的潜在必要性。该系统能就水生生态系统中毒素的存在向养殖户发出早期预警，从而有助于挽救贻贝产量并避免重大经济损失。分析结合了农业经济学中两种既定的方法工具（线性规划和成本效益分析），并在两种情景下对投资的净现值进行了估算——一种反映现状，另一种是贻贝生产系统扩大后的可能未来情景。分析结果揭示了使用自动化系统的中长期影响，两者均表明该系统在经济上是可行的，即便在其运营期间仅在一年中有助于使贻贝生产免受毒性影响。第一种情景下的年毛利润为386,069欧元，但在第二种情景下几乎增至三倍（1,154,649欧元）。此外，贻贝养殖行业未来的发展和扩张可能将基于规模更大、具有创业和出口导向的养殖场，而诸如本文所评估的这种风险缓解系统可能会发挥重要作用。
