Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems (Dec 2023)
SUSTAINABILITY INDEX OF THE POTATO (Solanum tuberosum L.) PRODUCTION AGROECOSYSTEM IN CUTERVO, PERU
Abstract
Background: Potato cultivation in the northern highlands of Peru has intensified due to the high demand of the national market for the nutritional quality of this tuber, however, the conventional system presents critical points in social, economic and environmental terms that limit the profitability of the cultivation, being relevant the identification of these critical points to carry out the intervention and propose strategies to improve said agricultural system. Objective: Determine the sustainability index of potato producing farms in the province of Cutervo, Cajamarca, Peru. Methodology: 165 questionnaires with structured questions were applied to farmers whose main activity is potato cultivation. Multiple correspondence analysis was used to determine the reliability of these surveys. The values of the economic, social and environmental indicators were found through multidimensional analysis and an ordinal scale from 1 to 5, in which "1" was considered the least sustainable and "5" as a maximum level of sustainability. Results: The analysis of internal consistency of data for the 14 indicators and 24 sub-indicators presented Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.977 and 0.968 respectively, indicating high reliability and acceptable internal consistency of the evaluated indicators and therefore, the questionnaire presents high reliability. Likewise, the sustainable analysis of the potato agroecosystem in Cutervo reported that the farms are socially and environmentally sustainable, with indexes of 3.39 and 3.11, respectively, while the economic dimension presented critical conditions with a value below the minimum sustainable threshold (2.93) being the critical points: "percentage that causes the incidence of pests and diseases in potatoes", "number of marketing channels", "dependence on external inputs", "application of organic matter", "internal conservation”, “situ of native varieties”, “degree of damage from the use of pesticides” and “use of pesticides”. Regarding the general sustainability index, the potato agroecosystem is not sustainable. Implications: Potato producers in the mountains need to reduce environmental impact and increase productivity and profitability. Conclusion: The sustainability index of the potato agroecosystem in Cutervo, Peru, reported that the social and environmental dimensions exceeded the critical conditions while the economic dimension presented values below the minimum threshold of sustainability, resulting that the potato production system is not sustainable. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene in the sub-indicators that presented critical points and thus establish strategies to improve the potato agroecosystem in the northern highlands of Peru.
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