Abstract
ABSTRACT: A typology of avocado cv. Hass farms was constructed based on information collected from productive units in Antioquia, Colombia. The study aimed to provide key information about the farms for those involved in the design of programs and public policies directed to growers. The data were scrutinized through Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Cluster Analysis. The sample was made up of 214 growers of the crop. Quantitative and qualitative variables were employed for the MCA, which rendered 40 dimensions, out of which 16 accounted for 70% of the total inertia (variance) found in the data. These 16 dimensions were used as input for the Cluster Analysis, which provided the following results: 52%, 32% and 15% of the farms were located in Clusters 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The identified farm types can be associated to peasant (Cluster 1) and commercial (Cluster 3) agricultural schemes, plus a transition between them (Cluster 2). The most discriminating variables regarding such categorization were: farm size, farm registry at ICA (Colombian Agricultural Institute), Avocado cv. Hass yield, labor source, presence of crops other than avocado, existence of formal commercial alliances and technical assistance type. The percentage of farmers belonging to grower organizations was high in the three clusters. Growers in Clusters 3 and 2 had established formal commercial alliances which enabled them to access better sale prices for the crop. A trend towards establishing cv. Hass as a monocrop is observed, which may threaten both crop biodiversity and the food security of peasant growers.
Highlights
Multiple correspondence analysis The Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) resulted in forty dimensions containing 100% of the total inertia of the data
The current results revealed considerable homogeneity in parameters such as type of tenure, distance from the farm to municipality seats and growers’ associativity, all of which are important for the development of avocado cv
Hass farms were identified in Antioquia, Colombia
Summary
Hass is popularly known, has already become one of the most promising cash crops of the Colombian agro-exports basket. Colombia is one of the leading producers of avocado worldwide, where it holds the third place, lagging only behind Mexico and the Dominican Republic (FAO, 2018). Its participation in international markets is still marginal, since it is behind big exporters such as Mexico, Peru, Chile, Kenya and South Africa (TRADEMAP, 2018). Despite its negligible share of the world market, Colombia increased its avocado exports by more. Approved 04.07.20 Returned CR-2019-0188.R2 by the author 05.14.2C0 iência. V.50, n.7, Gaitan & Ríos than 800% in the 2014-2016 period. The recent lift on the ban imposed on Colombian cv. Hass exports has motivated growers and traders to conquer the American market
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