Abstract

BURBANO-FIGUEROA, Oscar. West Indian avocado agroforestry systems in Montes de María (Colombia): a conceptual model of the production system. Rev. Chapingo Ser.Hortic [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.2, pp.75-102. ISSN 2007-4034.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchsh.2018.09.018.

Montes de María is a subregion of the Colombian Caribbean made up of 15 municipalities in the states of Bolívar and Sucre. This subregion includes the plain zone bordering the Magdalena River, the coastal zone and the mountainous zone, the last of which is the main producer of West Indian avocado (Persea americana var. americana) in Colombia and groups more than 1,500 agricultural production units. West Indian avocado is produced in agroforestry systems in association with cocoa and yam plantations. In the last decade, a decrease in the avocado cultivated area associated with the occurrence of plant wilting symptoms has been observed. Multiple efforts have been made by different stakeholders in the region with the purpose of collecting information to understand the loss of cultivated areas and implement strategies to manage the production system. The aim of this review is to present an overview of avocado agroforestry production systems in Montes de María through conceptual models that allow identifying factors, components and relationships among components of the production system. The proposed conceptual model can be easily expanded to include new relationships or to describe existing ones in mathematical terms, allowing the development of probabilistic simulation models.

Keywords : avocado wilt; Colombian Caribbean; yam; cocoa; Montemariano avocado landraces.

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