A comparative study on the production cost and profit of citrus fruits and field crops

In order to compare the differences in the production cost and profit of citrus fruits and field crops， this paper analysed the composition of the direct and indirect production costs in terms of mandarins，tangerines， wheat，cotton，rapeseed and maize in 2016. In addition，the data of 2006 and 2016 were compared and analyzed through the five income indicators：output value，production，unit price，net profit，and cost-profit rate. At the same time，changes in the total production cost and the net profit of selected agricultural products were compared from 2006 to 2016. The results showed that the production cost and profit of citrus fruits were much higher than field crops. The total production cost of citrus fruits and field crops showed an increasing trend in the last decade. The cost of mandarins and tangerines decreased in certain years，however，the cost of field crops grew consistently. In 2016，the output values of mandarins and tangerines reached 375.08 RMB per hectare and 301.88 RMB per hectare respectively，which were 2.1 times and 1.2 times that of 2006 respectively. Among the field crops researched，the highest output value came from cotton in 2016，which was 121.22 RMB per hectare. In terms of net profits，the net profit of the mandarins experienced an upward trend overall and the net profit of tangerines maintained above 77 RMB per hectare except 2008，while the net profit of field crops decreased in recent years. Therefore，compared with field crops such as wheat，cotton，rapeseed and maize，citrus fruits should have priority in production. Based on the analysis，this paper put forward some countermeasures and suggestions to promote the development of the citrus industry，including optimizing the material investment structure，improving the mechanization level，increasing the investment of science and technology and strengthening the government support.