TYPOLOGY OF PRODUCERS AND DIFFERENTIATION OF AGROECOSYSTEMS WITH PAPAYA (Carica papaya L.) IN OAXACA, MEXICO

Abstract

Background: The Costa region is the main papaya (Carica papaya L.) producing area in the state of Oaxaca. However, there are no studies that document the potentialities, limitations, and development of the productive and commercial process of this crop with a comprehensive approach. Objective: To characterize papaya producers and their agroecosystems in the Costa region of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico; and determine a representative typology, based on their socioeconomic, productive, technological and commercial characteristics, using multivariate analysis techniques. Methodology: A questionnaire was applied through a probabilistic sampling to 89 papaya producers from seven municipalities in the Costa region of the state of Oaxaca, which included quantitative and qualitative variables, classified into indicators: i) social: ii) physical, iii) productive, iv) economic, v) management, vi) commercialization, vii) technological. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, review and selection of variables, factor analysis by the principal components method, identification of clusters, comparison and differentiation of defined groups, and discriminant analysis. Results: Through factorial analysis, two factors were selected that explained 72.89% of the original variability. The first factor was related to the variables economic income from the sale of papaya, profitability factor and papaya yield; while the second factor was explained by the experience of the producer. The cluster analysis allowed to identify three types of papaya producers (conventional, intermediate, and businesses), which represented 62%, 28% and 10% of the total sample. The variables with the greatest discriminating power between groups were economic income from the sale of papaya, papaya yield, and the profitability factor. Implications: The defined typology suggests the need to improve the design of public policies and promptly reorient them based on the heterogeneity among papaya producers in the study region. Conclusions: The papaya producers in the study sample are relatively young, have an intermediate level of schooling and seniority in the activity; those that make up Group 3 (businesses) stand out for having higher crop yields and better marketing channels. Papaya agroecosystems differ mainly by cultivated area, production yield, economic income and production costs.