Abstract

JARAMILLO VILLANUEVA, José Luis; ESCOBEDO GARRIDO, José Sergio; BARRERA RODRIGUEZ, Ariadna  and  HERRERA CABRERA, Braulio Edgar. Economic efficiency of vanilla curing (Vanilla planifolia J.) in the Totonacapán region, Mexico. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2013, vol.4, n.3, pp.477-483. ISSN 2007-0934.

Curing vanilla is a fundamental activity in the vanilla product system, because it generates dehydrated vanilla, a value-added product demanded by the national and international markets. In this regard, it is important to know the level of competition in this segment of the production chain. The purpose of this research was to estimate the competitiveness of two vanilla curing systems in the Totonacapán region. The methodology uses the policy analysis matrix (PAM), which generates the private cost ratio (PCR) and the domestic resources cost ratio (DRCR), which indicate the level of economic efficiency of the systems. The information was obtained in the study region during 2009, from face to face interviews with 15 vanilla curers in their curing plants, based on a directed sampling. The traditional curing system (sun wilting) shows an efficient use of domestic resources and has a comparative advantage over other systems; it is profitable, while the heating furnace system resulted in low efficiency and showed no comparative advantage.

Keywords : traditional curing; oven curing; competitiveness; profitability.

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