Abstract

BARRIENTOS, JUAN CARLOS; REINA, MARTHA LILIANA  and  CHACON, MARÍA ISABEL. The economic potential of four promising aromatic species for the production of essential oils in Colombia. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.2, pp.225-237. ISSN 2011-2173.

As part of the research project "Phenotypic, chemical, and agronomic assessment of promising native and foreign species based on the quality of their essential oils and potential use in agriculture", the following species were selected: Lippia alba, Lippia origanoides, Tagetes caracasana, and Tagetes zypaquirensis, as promising essential oil species with potential uses in agriculture. However, their commercial potential also depends on their economic viability. In that sense, this research aimed to determine the economic potential of the above mentioned species to produce essential oils in Colombia. Based on primary and secondary information, the cost structure for commercial production and processing, prices and revenues of fresh products and essential oils, and yields were analyzed. The economic analysis took two production systems and three geographic scenarios as the reference. The profitability was analyzed in terms of net present value (NPV), benefit/cost ratio (B/C R) and internal rate of return (IRR). The results show that all the crops under the study, except the greenhouse Lippia, had high yields, although their production costs are relatively high. The oil yield of Lippia is approximately 1%, especially in warm areas, and for Tagetes, it is less than 0.5%. The raw material is the most costly item in the oil industry (>90%). For a constant production of essential oils in an industrial unit of a 600 kg capacity per cycle, between 7 and 16 ha of cultivation are needed. Lippia plants are potentially profitable because of their reasonable oil yield and price, Tagetes plants, however, are not.

Keywords : Lippia sp.; Tagetes sp.; yields; production costs; profitability.

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