MULTIVARIATE ANALYZES TO CHARACTERIZE AND TYPIFY POTATO PRODUCTION FARMS (Solanum tuberosum L.) IN CUTERVO, CAJAMARCA, PERU

Abstract

Background: The potato production system is an important socioeconomic and environmental activity in the high Andean areas of Peru, and it is necessary to characterize and typify said system to identify types of producing farms with homogeneous and representative characteristics, and thus design strategies to improve the production system of potatoes, in the northern highlands of Peru. Objectives: The objective of this research is to characterize and classify potato-producing farms using of multivariate methods in the province of Cutervo, Peru. Methodology: 165 farms were selected, and data was collected through a survey that describes the social, economic and environmental characteristics. Results: The principal component analyzes report seven principal components which explain 73.46% of the total variability of the data, which highlight the most important variables that characterize the potato system; show that most of the producers have basic education, belong to a peasant community, have an area of 1 ha or more and their production exceeds 13 t ha-1, but production costs are high, due to the excessive use of pesticides, added to this the low price of potatoes, obtaining low monthly income. The lack of training by state institutions and the application of new technologies. The cluster analysis characterized five typical farms, with different levels of technology and economy, social and environmental characteristics of the potato production system. Implications: Multivariate analysis can typify and characterize the production system of different crops in an agoecological zone, by selecting uncorrelated variables that are easier to understand and explain to design agricultural development strategies. Conclusions: The multivariate analysis managed to identify the most critical or risk characteristics of the potato production system at the farm level, establishing five standard farms, made up of a group of producers with homogeneous socioeconomic and environmental characteristics, therefore, intervention is necessary and implementation of strategies to improve the most critical characteristics of each group of producers to increase yield, combining chemical pesticides with biological agents to control pests and diseases, manage biodiversity and increase the quality of life of families that produce crops papa in Cutervo.