Agronomic characterization

Species

Coffee: garnica, caturra, arabic, novo world, bourbon and typica. Banana: dominico white dwarf, purple, male and roatan. Oranges: jaffa valence or late, imperial, sugar. Tangerines: freemont, mónica and fortune. Mandarins queen and dancy. Grapefruits: double red, blush and march network. Limes: persian lemon and fresh lemon.

System structure: each component of the system is located strategically, avoiding competition between them in terms of horizontal space and trying to occupy different strata vertically (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Diagram of the distribution of the three components of the coffee-banana-citrus traditional agroforestry system. 

Establishment of the system: when the system is applied on farms already established a number of shade trees is removed to allow trace the estrangement of the new species well and avoid excessive shade. Thus, the starting point will be the traditional agroforestry system. If the system has just begun species are planted together; first all areas where bananas should “ahoyarse” are drawn, this is planted before the other species because it is planted in the dry season. Coffee and citrus are planted to start the rainy season, at which time the banana and offers some shade mainly for coffee.

Coffee: before making the planting hole digging 40 cm deep is made and covered with topsoil from the farm. These activities should be made 20 days before planting coffee trees. Planting is set to start the rainy season. When planted should select the most healthy and vigorous seedling, and is done "bare root" or "pylon". Among the cultivation work carried out is the practice of "oppression" in february, using stakes at its upper end with a hook shape. When they have sprouted seedlings are selected from three to four, during pruning tip from the mother plant using a machete is removed. Pruning is done after harvest (March) eliminating uncompensated, unproductive, dry, diseased and broken branches.

The most common pest and is the producer controls stem borer, which is more common in the rainy season, focusing until december. It fought with Foley (5 milliliters per liter of water), injecting with syringe into the tree to kill the larvae. High incidence of lea fminer of coffee leucoptera coffella on farms was observed, however not controlled. The disease incidence is low. There is no control over them, was found in rust coffee trees Hemileia vastatrix Berk y Br., "mal de hilachas" Corticium koleroga Cooke, "ojo de gallo" Mycena citricolor Berk y Br., "mancha de hierro" Cercospora coffeicola Berk Cooke.

The cherry collection begins in late September and ends in January. The crop is distributed in 2-3 "pepenas", 2 good and drag. The yields range from 2 to 6 t ha-1. Common activities for the three components of the system are weed control and fertilization. It usually consists of controlling weeds 3-4 times a year, when they have one to two years old coffee trees and shadow is still small and only once or twice a year from the third year of the system established.

When they are three earned, the first is carried out after harvest, between January and February, using mattock; the second is during the rainy season the third in late September, before starting the coffee harvest. The last two are with clean machete, called "chaponeo". Lately the use of herbicides in the rainy season comes to be used, the most used are applying labor leader or 2-3 L ha-1. Fertilization practice is done in two ways; one relates to when the fertilizer is directed to the coffee plant and the other, apparently the most common, is one in which the banana component receives fertilizer application where citrus and coffee exploit the fertilizer for their root systems which have developed by the banana component.

Banana: is asexual propagation by suckers, which are selected from existing plantations. The hijuelo is started, using a hand tool called a "cavador". Strains are 60-70 cm in diameter and 25-40 cm deep. Subsequently, the strain is filled with fertiles oil or lid, waiting 20 days for planting. The plantation is established from February to may, preferably in march, because there is good soil moisture. It involves placing the hijuelo in strain, trying the "sweet potato" protrudes 10 cm from the surface, and thus encourage sprouting. If the plant survives three days emits an outbreak known as "python" and at 15 already has its first leaves.

The cultivation works are performed two to three times a year, preferably before flowering coffee. All of these practices waste (leaves, tillers and pseudostem) are chopped with machete fragmenting and dispersed on the surface of the farm. The need for the practice of defoliation instrument is the "crescent" eliminating old stained or mechanical damage leaves. If the rainy season defoliation is four to five leaves left over her veil and if in cold or dry season six leaves and veil. For the "destule" pseudostem or "destlasole" a machete or moruna is needed, eliminating waste of leaves, and try that the trunk is clean. Using a "digger" process of removing children stunted and scattered, leaving on February 1 per plant desuckering good. They should be larger and better position, avoiding coffee invade lines.

After harvesting the fruit stems of plants of 1.5 to 2 meters high are left, in order that this "amadrine" and "force" the new tillers. For there to transfer photosynthates the corm and the tillers. Pests have little importance and which come to be presented are: the gopher (Orthogeomys hispidus Le Conte) is controlled by a bait called commercially as "1080", impregnated sugar cane tips. With minor you are the "zaratán" (Cosmopolites sordidus German) and its damage is undermining the corm.

The disease is more problematic "chamusco", presented at time of heat wave (august). The causal agent is the fungus Ascomycete Mycosphaerella fijiensis, resecting the leaves and pale yellow stripes on the upper leaf three and four. Control must be done mechanically by practicing and chemical defoliation, by applying commercial products such as fungicides TILT®. To harvest is necessary to know the following indices: fruit well filled, color a little yellowish and fall of the pistils. A cluster weighs 4 to 6 kg and ranging from 2 to 12 kg; the best quality of bananas in the months of May to September is obtained. The harvest is every 15 days, particularly during the rainy season, which runs from July to September; the rest of the year can be harvested every 20 days. In total there are 17 to 18 cuts per year. To harvest the plant, cutting it to a height of 1.5 to 2 m, annual yields are 4.8 to 5.8 t ha^-1 year^-1, obtained by cutting 200 to 300 kg ha^-1 year^-1 is grave. The cuts include more performance from July to November.

Citrus: to establish one planting hole digging 40 cm in diameter is by 40-50 cm deep, depositing as focused as possible plant and after this activity is covered with fertile land, is between June and July, and it is possible until november, when the plant comes from nurseries bag. Between the fifth and sixth year pruning with serrate and machete, trying to leave the shaft clean the height of 2-3 m, to facilitate handling of the coffee plantation and orange branches not overlap with coffee it is given, further avoids excessive shading. They are performed every 3-4 years, as a measure of health, pruning, removing diseased branches or dry. Pruning citrus is at the time of the coffee tree pruning. The most common pest is the ant arriera Atta sp., which attacks adult plants, fought with Mirex, applying 10 g per square meter, and the way that insects leave the nest on their way to the plant.

The presence of gomosis affects up to 10% of the trees, for control bordelesa paste is applied, which is prepared with 20 g of lime plus 20 g of copper sulfate, in a liter of water. The damaged plant is scraped and cleaned well, avoiding contaminating other trees with the instrument to scrape off and to apply the paste. Another practice that every 3-4 years is done is to remove the "soluches" (bromeliads), and all parasitic ivies and epiphytes that are set in the branches of citrus. They are manually removed, using a ladder to reach the aerial part of the plants. The plants begin to produce in the third year, and in very shady trees until the tenth, establishing full production in 15 years. The harvest season begins inAugust-September and ends in December, however this plant produces fruit so homogeneous that a cut is given, being very rare ventures productions.

The cut is manual, using very long and light stairs, greater length to four meters, bags or “arpillas” that hang on the shoulder to deposit the fruits. As for returns, an orange tree within two years of starting production, about the ninth set, produces an average of 25 kg and thus continues to increase until set to 100 kg per year, that is, the year 15 forward.

Stratification of family production units (UPF): stratification by category of the UPF of the study communities were able to establish from the analysis of:

The availability of land; the level of intensification of their workforce; and the technological level of the production system. For socio-economic analysis of the UPF these resulting in the following categories criteria were used:

Category I. Families equipped sub implementing traditional agroforestry coffee-banana-citrus on a single property temporarily, with family labor force sufficient to meet the needs of the production system, your product is selling at lot.

UPF. Model. It has an area of 3 ha of land in a single plot of time with traditional agroforestry coffee-banana-citrus, the activity need not hire labor, the selling price of coffee is $1.50 per kg, banana $2.20 per kg and citric is $1.00 per kg. These UPF represent on average 67.5% of the communities studied.

Category II. Semi-equipped families, one temporary premises with the traditional agroforestry system coffee- banana-citrus, hire labor at harvest time sale of product is in the central supply of the municipality of Martínez de la Torre.

UPF. Model. They have 8 ha with traditional agroforestry system coffee-banana-citrus with a level of technology reduced to a vehicle low capacity, hire labor in times harvest, the selling price of coffee is $2.5, banana $3.00 and $1.50 citric. They represent on average 21.6% of the studied communities.

Category III. Families equipped, one two properties temporarily with traditional agroforestry coffee-banana- citrus, hire labor in times harvest, the price of production is defined by the central supply of the municipality of Martínez de la Torre or Central Abastos, Mexico City.

UPF. Model. 18 ha on average land with traditional agroforestry system.

Coffee-banana-citrus, with the level of technology to a vehicle capacity of three tons and one with little capacity, using family labor and sometimes the contract, are producers in the process of capitalization, the sale price coffee is $2.5, $3.00 banana and citrus $1.50. These UPF represent on average 10.9% of the studied communities.

Financial evaluation

Cost: the cost of investment includes a breakdown of fixed and variable costs for the establishment of coffee- banana-citrus traditional agroforestry system. These costs were derived from surveys and prices in the region which for category I is $137 950.00, for the category of $522 400.00 II and III for $1 635 400.00. Operating costs are considered from the year 1 to 30, provide the work for system maintenance since it begins until it ends its production cycle. Category I is $660 373.20, the II of $2 186 695.20 and III of $ 7 655 179.20.

Income: total income in 30 years for category I is $3 125 700.00, in the II $12 062 400.00 and the III of $25 188 000.00.

Depreciation: depreciation of tools and equipment was calculated using the ratio of the initial value and the useful life of equipment to 30 years and annually. Category I is $1 646.67, the II $12 586.67 and III $31 563.67.

Breakeven: to determine the breakeven a picture of cash flow was performed, a graph was prepared to locate what year do not have gain or loss. For category I breakeven in the year 10, in the II year 7 and III in year 9, and from that year the producer begins to have positive earnings.

Update factor: to calculate the discount factor should be taken into account a discount rate or the interest the bank charges for acquiring a resource; they were taken as a basis interest rates defined by trusts instituted in relation to Agriculture (FIRA, 2011) where a rate of 15% for this work was determined. Calculation of indicators cost benefit ratio, net present value and internal rate of return for category I, II and III. In category I B/C is 1.34, the VAN is $13 747 033.75 and the TIR is 26%. For category II B/C is 1.66, the VAN is $84 025 071.11 and the TIR is 34%. Finally in category III B/C is 1.43, the VAN is $118 255 773.40, and the TIR is 18%.

Socioeconomic assessment of the UPF coffee-banana- citrus traditional agroforestry system in municipality of Tlapacoyan, Veracruz

Gross product: the PB total in 30 years for category I is $3 125 700.00, in the II of $12 062 400.00 and the III of $25 188 000.00.

Intermediate costs: calculated to a period of 30 years is the life time has this agroforestry system. For this calculation the hand hired labor is not considered as an input. The total intermediate cost in 30 years for category I is $660 373.20 in the II is $2 186 695.20 and the III of $7 655 179.20.

Gross added value: for this indicator was calculated by the sum of the 30 years of the crude and intermediate costs. For category I is $2 465 326.80, in the II is $9 875 704.80 and the III is $17 532 820.80. In the Table 1 shows the calculation for this indicator is shown.

Table 1 Calculation of gross value added for category I, II and III of the coffee-banana-citrus traditional 

Net value added: for this indicator was calculated first the amount of labor that they hire (Table 2); subsequently deprecations and taxes.

Table 2 Calculation of labor for category I, II and III of the coffee-banana-citrus traditional agroforestry system. 

In the case of category I freight was considered because they have the means to carry their inputs to the farm and this gives them a cost.

For category I VAN it is $1 382 750.80, for II of $8 662 968.80 and for category III is $19 024 164.80 (Table 3).

Table 3 Calculation of net value added for category I, II and III of the coffee-banana-citrus traditional agroforestry system. 

Productivity of labor: is obtained by the ratio of net value added and total wages to 30 years. For category I it is $257.35, the II of $456.19 and III of $344.02 (Table 4).

Table 4 Calculation of productivity of labor for category I, II and III of the coffee-banana-citrus traditional agroforestry system.