Specialization and diversification of transient crops in the region of Puno

Abstract

Agriculture in the Puno region has great potential for employment generation, food security and poverty reduction, through agro-ecological conditions, biodiversity and the ancestral knowledge of the population about using the flora and fauna native. Unfortunately, this potential has remained untapped in various districts of the region, where the highest rates of poverty are concentrated, for various reasons such as limited access to basic services, low levels of training and support of producers, weak organization limited investment in productive infrastructure, smallholding or fragmentation of land, the emerging technology innovation , climate risks , which are combined with the limited institutional climate and levels of social capital have not favored the development of the agricultural sector. The crop diversification in this context has played a significant role majority of family farmers in the region of Puno. In this study, firstly to analyze the diversification of annual crops in the region of Puno, an index of diversification is estimated at the level of agricultural units to 185 thousand 136 farming units in the region of Puno. Second, the factors is estimated that crop diversification through a probit model, for which the database of the National Agricultural Census (CENAGRO)-2012 are used. The estimated results of the diversification index of annual crops using the Herfindahl index exhibit significant heterogeneity at the level of agricultural units at district and provincial level. The regional average rate is estimated at 0.44. Among the factors that explain the diversification of crops are acres of land, access to credit, technical training, access to irrigation, the level of primary education, gender, age, geographical altitude, and native language ( Aymara and Quechua ). While the variables are negatively influencing the level of secondary education, higher education level and associativity of the producer.