Optimum Replacement Time for Cotton Pickers in Greece

Abstract

In this paper an attempt has been made to determine the optimum replacement time for cotton pickers under the technical and economic conditions in Greece. For this purpose, five relevant methods have been applied to analyze real data taken by 62 cotton pickers working in Central Greece. Three of the methods consider that the optimum replacement time for cotton pickers is the year when the accumulated annual depreciation is equal to the corresponding repair and maintenance costs or the year when the aforementioned annual expenses of the machine per working hour are minimum. The fourth method considers the year in which the accumulated average total costs per working hour or per hectare harvested is minimum, while the fifth method refers to the year in which the accumulated annual “standardized†net income received from the use of a cotton picker is maximum. Based on the results of this study the optimum replacement time of a cotton picker is the 14th –15th year of its productive life combined with 4500 –5000 working hours and 1450 – 1550 hectares harvested.cotton pickers, optimum replacement time, costs, net income, Farm Management, Crop Production/Industries,