Articles
ECONOMIC QUESTIONS OF THE TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF VITICULTURE
Traditional cultivation based on hand-labour and horse power has been mechenized to a great extent.
The way to the establishment of up-to-date plantations suitable for mechanized cultivation was not unhindered.
A number of biological, technical and economic problems had to be solved and fundamental professional ideas revaluated so that vine producing farms could safely apply up-to-date technology required by large-scale production.
The viticultural technologies that already make use of machines for performing fundamental soil and surface work had been formed in Hungary by the end of the 60’s.
Development, however, has not stopped, so it is the task of today further to develop these production technologies, and technical development has started indeed by the realization of aerial plant protection and by using grape harvesting machines.
Machines and ever increasing assortment of chemicals constitute, however, only the basis for technical development.
Economic efficiency is also closely related to the sphere of up-to-dateness.
The most modern spectacular technical solution may only be considered up-to-date if it has proper economic background and does not jeopardize rentability of production.
At the present level of technological development in most cases we must already be satisfied with the result if the economic sacrifice made for the sake of development corresponds to the economic advantage achieved.
In other words, we have come to the economic limit of technical development.
That we transgress this limit in many cases is a consequence of manpower shortage.
For the sake of successful technical development biological, technical and economic conditions should be secured well co-ordinated and at the same time.
But man operating the technical equipment should not be left out of consideration, either.
Highly developed production technologies require of working man to fulfil ever increasing demands.
Whichever of the factors above is missing or left out for a longer time, no result can be achieved.