Characterization of agroproductive systems of the Colonche parish, Santa Elena province, Ecuador

Abstract

Objective: To characterize the agroproductive systems of the Colonche parish in Santa Elena, Ecuador.

Materials and Methods: Data were collected through participatory techniques with interviews and the application of surveys carried out in a total of 313 farms, corresponding to eight agroproductive communes. For the characterization, description and grouping of the farms and productive units, descriptive statistics and the hierarchical cluster method were used. The data were processed by the program IBM SPSS^® Statistics 22.

Results: The agricultural systems are characterized by monoculture (58,8 %), little diversification and animal husbandry (23,0 %), as well as by the scarce management of agroecological practices. Lack of knowledge and little interest in the adoption of soil use practices and integrated pest management (91,7 %) with chemical control only, low educational level (92,7 %) of primary level, prevailed. From the cluster analysis two groups were formed: 99,4 % of the farms appear in the first group, which has predominance of traditional monoculture; group 2 includes two farms, which have a productive system under agroecological transition.

Conclusions: The agricultural systems in the Colonche parish are in correspondence with the traditional agriculture model and are characterized by monoculture, little diversification and animal production, as well as by scarce management of agroecological practices and little level in their application.