DIAGNOSIS OF CORN CULTIVATION IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF OCOTEPEC, CHIAPAS, MEXICO

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.9735825151211

• Palavras-chave: Zea mays, productivity, systems, producers, technical assistance.

• Keywords: Zea mays, productivity, systems, producers, technical assistance.

• Abstract:

  Corn (Zea mays L.) is the staple food of the people of Ocotepec. The
  objective of this research was to identify the technical and socioeconomic factors that
  restrict the development of corn cultivation and its producers in the municipality of
  Ocotepec, Chiapas. The City Council has a registry of 693 corn producers, so the random
  sample was 25, to which, in 2015, a survey of 116 questions associated with the
  aforementioned factors was applied. The absolute frequencies of the individual variables
  were evaluated, and some were correlated, in pairs and/or triads, using SPSS software
  (2016). The results identified various factors that limit the development of the crop and its
  producers. Their ages range from 41 to 85, with between 18 and 70 years of experience.
  Thirty-six percent are illiterate and 16% have not completed primary school; their main
  income comes from subsistence corn farming (0.5-2 ha; 92%) on ejido (84%) and
  communal (8%) land; all of them plant native corn by hand in rainfed fields, 64% of them
  sowing 50,000 seeds per hectare; 68% control weeds with herbicides and 32% manually;
  68% apply one to six bags of urea per hectare (36% two bags); there was damage from Fall
  Armyworm (56%) and White Grub(48%) (without proper control, 48%); no soil analysis is
  carried out (100%) nor is the soil improved, even though there was erosion (80%); the Plant
  Health Sub-delegation does not function (100%); the crop was profitable (40%), without
  financing (100%); 96% use the grain for self-consumption; support was incomplete (24%)
  and untimely (48%); 68% want new varieties; all work favors production (52%); there was
  no community impact from support (80%); corn production systems were: single crop
  (16%) and associated with beans (84%); people do not cooperate in common tasks (48%)
  and 20% do; 88% are willing to receive technical assistance, but only 12% want to pay.
  Finally, it is advisable to design a comprehensive technical advisory system, which will be
  implemented starting with four main variables: literacy, improved varieties, planting dates,
  and seed and corn plant population densities on farmers’ land, with the collaboration of the
  City Council and technicians from different institutions and disciplines.