An economic sustainability assessment of "Fichi di Cosenza" PDO production compared with other profitable permanent crops.

In Calabria Region (Southern Italy), the province of Cosenza represents an important area for figs growing belonging to cultivar 'Dottato' that is used to produce the quality-branded dried figs “Fichi di Cosenza” PDO (protected designation of origin). In the last years, due to a significant increase of dried figs consumption, a growth of public subsidies aimed to introduce innovative practices in figs orchards has occurred. The present paper aims to evaluate the economic sustainability of investments in fig tree farms, by integrating life cycle costing (LCC) methodology with specific economic indicators. Furthermore, a comparison between fig orchards and other local and profitable permanent crops has been carried out, on the basis of all economic results. The analysis allowed to account for all costs during the whole lifetime of investments, by rationalizing the corporate decision-making process for the choice between different alternatives. Results showed the economic viability of 'Dottato' fig investments and a suitable level of profitability. In this context, figs production could represent an important small-scale agro-food supply chain useful to the improvement of rural economy and to enhancement of local quality food.