This paper describes the study of the economic viability of cultivation and essential oil extraction of Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel. An assessment was made of profits and costs for activities of seedling production, implantation, maintenance, harvesting, transport and essential oil extraction, as well as revenues. The economic analysis was accomplished using the following economic indicators: Net Present Value, Benefit/Cost Ratio, Internal Return Rate, Equivalent Annual Value and Average Cost of Production. Then a sensibility analysis was performed using the simulation technique of Monte Carlo _ software @Risk. Once data were collected and analyzed, minimum, medium and maximum parameters for triangular probability distribution of implantation, maintenance, harvest, distillation and revenue costs were fixed, derived from the project of essential oil production, allowing a better evaluation of economic indicators before the risk analysis. As result a productivity of 81.82 L essential oil ha-1 year-1 was achieved with an annual profit of R$497,18 per hectare, whereas the sensibility analysis gave a low probability for the activity to become economically unviable.
Tea Tree; economic analysis; essential oil
