Abstract

NAJERA-GARDUNO, Adriana de L.; PIEDRA-MATIAS, Rocio; ALBARRAN-PORTILLO, Benito  and  GARCIA-MARTINEZ, Anastacio. Changes in dual purpose livestock farming system in the dry tropic of Estado de Mexico. Agrociencia [online]. 2016, vol.50, n.6, pp.701-710. ISSN 2521-9766.

Livestock farming is an important economic activity in rural areas, although it has presented changes due to socioeconomic adjustments. One of these changes is to raise livestock to achieve two production goals, rather than one. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in production units (PU) with dual-purpose (DP) livestock in Southern Estado de Mexico. In 2006, with technical and economic follow-ups, information was obtained from 50 livestock farmers chosen by random sampling. Fourteen structure and management variables were evaluated (abandonment of livestock activity, labour availability, feeding, surface and size of herd), along with 14 economic variables, all of which were obtained with structured surveys. All the livestock farmers provided reliable information for the validation of the data, which were also contrasted with the records in the PU and with key informers and official statistics for the economic variables. Such variables were evaluated in the same sample in 2013. The statistical method used was a Student t test, for the comparison of average values of the 28 variables between dates. During the seven-year period, 56 % of the livestock farmers abandoned the activity and labour fell by 42 % (p≤0.05). The surface and size of the herd remained equal (p>0.05). The changes in the feeding and total income per cow and surface (ha) were significant (p≤0.05). The PU DP changed their structure, land use, feeding, management of the PU’s and therefore, the organization and orientation of livestock production. Tendencies indicate that the changes in livestock farming in southern Estado de México will continue.

Keywords : Bovines; production units; changes; dry tropic; dual-purpose.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English | Spanish     · English ( pdf ) | Spanish ( pdf )