Models for short vegetables' chain

The paper presents models for short chains of vegetables, considering integration as the main mechanism of coordination agents' activities on the chain. Among other mechanisms, such as subsidies system, price, contracts, horizontal and vertical integration, the latter has been chosen because, as other research show, it provides the highest performance for operators of agro-food system. The research question is how efficient are activities of vegetables' chain in this particular form of integrated operations of collecting vegetables, store and process them into cans and sell them to the market in a single economic unit. The objective of the research is to assess business' efficiency. In achieving this purpose, economic data regarding investment, production, revenues and expenses have been analysed, for an associative form of processing and selling vegetables, which develops such a business. The results show that investment is feasible, because revenues are higher than expenses, the rate of return is 22.6 per cent, and the return of investment is ten years, less than the machineries' period of operation. The model can be implemented by farmers who want to apply for structural funds and to develop, as such, their business in the direction of integrating activities down-stream the chain.