THE IMPACTS OF THE TECHNICAL CHANGES ON THE ECONOMIC SCALES FOR THE EGYPTIAN MAIZE CROP

Maize is the third major field crop grown in the world after rice and wheat. In Egypt, maize, wheat and rice are also the three major grain crops with very similar annual tonnage and similar total values depending upon prices. The main objective of the study is estimating the impacts of technical changes on the optimal and maximum-profit production levels for maize in Sharkia Governorate. Therefore the total costs and average cost curves for the cultivated traditional and modern maize varieties have been estimated and investigated. The relationship between the production costs, the optimal and maximum-profit production levels for traditional and modern maize varieties in Sharkia Governorate have been identified and measured. The secondary and primary field data have been used to accomplish the previous objectives. The primary field data for input and outputs prices and quantities of traditional and modern maize varieties have been obtained from maize farms and analyzed accordingly. The total costs and average cost functions approach have been used to achieve the main objectives of the study. The total costs and average costs functions for the traditional and modern maize varieties have been estimated to measure the impacts of technical changes on the optimal and maximum-profit production levels for maize in Sharkia Governorate. The main results can be summarized as follows: (i) the farmers of the traditional varieties can maximize their profit by producing
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28 ardab/feddan where the marginal cost curve intersects the farmgate price (i.e., 300 LE/ardab). The total production cost of traditional maize at the maximum-profit level is estimated at 207.3 LE/ardab. (ii) the farmers of the modern varieties can maximize their profit by producing 30 ardab/feddan where the marginal cost curve intersects the farmgate price (i.e., 300 LE/ardab). The average total production cost of modern maize at the maximum-profit level is estimated at 184.4 LE/ardab.
Key words: Maize, traditional, modern, total costs.