Adoption of technologies in oil palm cultivation, South-Central Region, Costa Rica
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/mhrz6k15Keywords:
probit analysis, cluster analysis, production technology, agricultural development, crop managemenAbstract
Introduction. In Costa Rica, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq.) ranks third in terms of tonnage harvested and leads in terms of planted area. However, there is a lack of studies evaluating the adoption of technologies. Objective. To identify the factors that influence the adoption of technologies by palm oil producers in the South-Central Region of Costa Rica. Materials and methods. A survey was conducted among a sample of 33 producers in the study region from January to December 2023. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) were used to identify similarities in adoption decisions, which were used to group individuals into three clusters of intensity in technology adoption. These were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson’s chi-square tests with respect to socioeconomic and productive variables. Finally, the influence of these variables on the intensity of adoption was analyzed using an ordered probit model and the estimation of their marginal effects. Results. A total of sixteen technologies were consulted; on average, people implement five, the most used organic fertilizers (64%) and green manure (64%). Years of farming experience, economic dependents, gender, delivery contract (organization), and farm size were associated with greater adoption of farming technologies. Conclusions. Productive clusters with different levels of technology adoption were identified, conditioned by gender, experience, productive conditions, and organizational links. The units with the highest adoption integrated sustainable practices were more diversified and were more economically dependent on palm cultivation. Being a woman, having more experience, having economic dependents, and having an agro-industrial contract increased the likelihood of technology adoption.
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