Typification of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) producers in the subregion of Sur de Córdoba in Colombia

Abstract

Cocoa cultivation has had growth at the national level, for the period 2014 to 2021 the cultivated area grew by  17 %, production did so by 33 % and yields by 0.45 %. Reviewing the literature for the south of the department of Córdoba, there is no study of characterization and typification of those of cocoa producers. The objective was to characterize the production system by grouping productive units to define homogeneous groups that serve to plan research and production in general. The method used was descriptive and the source of information was the structured survey applied to 158 farmers from the municipalities of Valencia, Tierraalta, Montelíbano and Puerto Libertador in the south of the department of Córdoba. A database was prepared, calculation of descriptive statistics. such as frequency and percentage, as well as measures of central tendency and the use of multivariate analysis techniques with the Gower method. The results show that the average age is 57 years, most farmers are men (76.6 %), the highest level of schooling is primary with 53 %. The presence of three groups of farmers who share similar characteristics in relation to the size of the property, area cultivated with cocoa, production per hectare and technological level was established. It is concluded that the group with the highest yields is the two G2 who have smaller productive units with 1.10 hectares on average, which is attributed to a better use of inputs with a high technological level.