Analysis and planning of integral farms

Project objective and indicators

Project objective: Sustainable management of natural resources that reduces their degradation, improves the living conditions of the local population and ensures the natural balance of water resources.

Indicator 4: Until 09/2004 at least 50% of the supported farmers apply sustainable farming methods

Indicator 5: Until the end of 2006, at least 20% of the CAY population obtains supplementary income through the sustainable use of natural resources

Indicator 6: Until the end of 2006, a positive impact can be verified between the measures to promote the project and the rate of erosion on the respective farms.

Land use planning

Productive bases of the system: climate, soils, vegetation. At the regional level, zoning is necessary to indicate the range of application of the different models; At the local level, a detailed mapping of the productive capacity of the land forms the basis.Current use and operation of existing agricultural systems and farms: An evaluation of the productive potential with existing technology is needed, of the rationality of the adaptation strategies followed and the identification of the main bottlenecks. Productive orientation and feasibility of alternatives: Among the possible alternatives, it is necessary to know which correspond to the objectives of the beneficiaries and to evaluate, at least preliminarily, their technical and economic feasibility for the selection of alternatives.

Conception of the analysis and planning of farms

In order to estimate the net income and liquidity of peasant families for an agricultural campaign in the situation without a project, home-farm models should be established for the different areas with a view to future project interventions.

The collected parameters must originate mainly from a full year of an agricultural cycle with clear indications on the amount and annual distribution of rainy rainfall and droughts. This means that the results obtained must clearly reflect the situation without a project.

The data collected should be based primarily on information collected through the baseline and case studies. The following steps of the agroeconomic analysis can be differentiated:

Step 1: Data collection

Step 2: Systematization of the collected data

Step 3: Presentation of the benefits of plant, animal and forest production

Step 4: Presentation of income from other activities

Step 5: Approximation of net income and estimation of liquidity of peasant families by farm size

and area investigated.

Expected products

Characterization of peasant farms in the area of influence of the project; Estimates of income and liquidity of peasant families; Design of data sheets for the collection of economic and technical data at the level of small peasant farms; Establishment of computer models for the processing of economic - technical data Budgets for production items and small farms without and with intervention measures Proposals for intervention in production systems and existing farm farms Financial demand for farm farms and their credit risks Proposal for exchange measures, training, technical assistance and financing Implementation of a workshop with the participation of technicians, promoters and producers on the survey methodology,systematization and interpretation of economic - technical data Technical reports with conclusions and recommendations to guide PROCARYN and its extension service.

Financial liquidity of peasant families

Currently, many peasant families have financial problems that are expressed in bottlenecks in financial liquidity, which greatly limits their ability to acquire the inputs, equipment and labor necessary to carry out agricultural, livestock and forestry activities according to their productive potential. native to their lands.

In the dead times of the summer season with prolonged droughts or periods of exempt rains, peasant families often depend entirely on

the sale of saved reserves from the previous harvest, the sale of livestock production (discarded cows, steers, milk, curd, cheese, pigs, chickens) and the income obtained through small businesses selling merchandise and services.

However, frequently the income from these sales is not enough to support the family, especially in the marginal areas.

In these circumstances, the liquidity of many peasant families depends considerably on the income obtained by family members outside the farm. Non-farm income basically consists of:

donations from support organizations, projects, religious groups, etc.), sale of goods (merchandise of different types, ice cream, rice, beans, soap), sale of services (transportation), other income (house and property rental), remittances from abroad (eg from relatives in Costa Rica, USA).

Farm card for technical-economic analysis

Family and farm history and evolution Family and worker data Farm sketch Location and size of agricultural parcels, pastures, forest areas, tacotales Land tenure evolution Farm infrastructure Cattle inventories, forest areas, tools and equipment Costs and prices of inputs, tools and equipment purchased Annual and perennial cropping systems (crop, area, last year, current year, technological level) Production costs in agricultural activities by crop including labor, inputs and services by crop and livestock activities by item Yields and precise sale of agricultural production by crop considering its destination, production costs and income in forestry activities, income from agricultural, livestock and forestry activity, calculation of amortizations, rents etc.,Product and money flow diagram

Gross margin calculation

Based on these economic-technical data by item, the gross margins produced by item on the farm can be calculated.

From the total yield, the variable costs of agricultural production, the value of own fodder consumed and the amortization of the fixed and active inventory are decreased, to calculate the net income of the agricultural activity.

The following steps are performed: