Potato farming in Southwest Colombia: Types of farmers and their technical efficiency

Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria

Eliana Martínez-Pachón¹  Housseman Steven Ramos-Zambrano¹  Rubilma Tarazona-Velásquez¹  Jose María Martínez² 

[1] Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, [AGROSAVIA];Michigan State University;

关键词: econometric analysis;    hierarchical cluster;    potato production;    Solanum toberosum;    stochastic frontier model;   

DOI  :  10.21930/rcta.vol23_num2_art:2236

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Potato is a traditional and economically important crop for farmers in the high mountains of Nariño (Colombia). However, its productivity growth is weakening, injuring farmers’ livelihoods. We hypothesize that an in-depth study of farm typologies and their relationship with productive efficiency could prove helpful in delivering recommendations for sector improvement. With a representative sample of 1,018 farmers, this research used cluster methods to identify representative types of farming and then a stochastic frontier model to build a measure of potato production efficiency. Finally, it analyzed how technical efficiency behaves across the calculated types of farming. Results suggested that four kinds of farming describe potato production in Nariño: micro, small, medium, and large-scale. Most farmers are of the micro (71.8 %) and small scale (23.8 %), and their conditions are unfavorable in terms of access to technical assistance, credit, and improved production practices. Although these farmers report an average efficiency of 79 % and 85 %, respectively, there is still an opportunity for improvement. We close with a brief discussion that focuses on suggestions for future policy or research advances around these farmers.

【 授权许可】

Unknown