An Overview of Bean Production Practices, Varietal Preferences, and Consumption Patterns in the Milpa System of the Guatemalan Highlands: Results of a Farm Household Survey

Abstract

The study of climbing bean farmers in five departments of the Altiplano region (a.k.a. western highlands) of Guatemala confirms the importance of beans as a crop for own consumption in the study area. On average, households planted 0.4 hectares with beans in the study region. Beans, planted as part of the traditional intercropped system called Milpa, are most commonly planted simultaneously (or directly) with corn, while relay (Milpa-relevo) was a second common planting method in the study area. In terms of area planted, most farmers ranked beans as either the first or second most important crop. The majority of farmers do not sell harvested grain. Indeed, for 47% of households, their own bean production is sufficient to cover 6 months or less of annual household bean consumption; beyond which they rely on purchased beans to fill their consumption needs. Bean consumption among households in this region is the highest soon after harvest (often between October and January) and lowest in July, August and September. The study confirms that men and women farmers have slightly different preferences for bean seed varietal traits and women are willing to pay $0.16 more for bean seed of varieties with their preferred traits than men. On average, farmers indicated they are willing to pay only a 10% premium for bean seed of a preferred variety over the price of grain. Thus, any efforts to increase the use of new improved varieties of beans to promote productivity growth in this region will need to be based on subsidized seed dissemination efforts to make the seeds affordable by smallholder farmers in the western highlands of Guatemala.