Abstract

UZCANGA-PEREZ, Nelda Guadalupe; CANO-GONZALEZ, Alejandro de Jesús  and  CHANATASIG-VACA, Cristina Isabel. Sustainability assessment of corn production systems in the Yucatan Peninsula. Ecosistemas y recur. agropecuarios [online]. 2022, vol.9, n.2, e3180.  Epub June 02, 2023. ISSN 2007-901X.  https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a9n2.3180.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the sustainability of the resource management systems used for the production of rainfed corn in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Evaluation Framework of Management Systems with Sustainability Indicators (MESMIS) (Spanish acronym) was used in the three systems: milpa, conventional and mechanized. Criteria and indicators aligned with the attributes of sustainability were defined: productivity, stability, resilience and reliability, adaptability, equity and self-reliance, and the critical points identified. The evaluation was carried out through the definition, calculation and monitoring of nine indicators: yield, cost-benefit ratio, index of sustainable agricultural aptitude, index of appropriation of agricultural technology, index of productive capacity, level of food security with respect to corn, land distribution, Gini coefficient, and external dependence on inputs. The data was obtained from 733 questionnaires, participatory workshops and documentary research, which was integrated with multi-criteria techniques to make value judgments about the management systems. The mechanized system was more sustainable in most of the attributes with the exception of self-reliance due to government support received. The milpa was more sustainable than the conventional system, due to the distribution of the land, and it was even more sustainable than the mechanized system due to its low dependence on external inputs, while the conventional system was the least sustainable than the milpa and mechanized system.

Keywords : MESMIS; indicators; performance levels; rainfed production.

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