Abstract

GUEVARA, Juan Carlos et al. Determinant factors of economic performance of goat meat production systems in arid rangelands of Mendoza, Argentina. Multequina [online]. 2017, vol.26, n.1, pp.51-61. ISSN 1852-7329.

This study identified and quantified the relevance of the variables affecting the annual income of meat goat production systems in arid rangelands of north-eastern Mendoza plain. It was hypothesized that the number of kid produced per year is the main factor that influences the economic performance of production systems. Ordinary linear, semi-log and Cobb-Douglas functions were estimated based on data from a cross section of 20 representative producers of the study area. Dependent variable was farm income and independent variables were number of kids and calves produced, manure sold, off-farm income, labor used for animal management (all the previous variables expressed at annual terms), farm available infrastructure, and distance of the farm to the main path. Producer size, on the basis of the number of goats and cows that they had, was divided into two categories: C₁ with no more than 130 animals and C₂ with more than this amount. Linear equation was a good one because it had the highest R² (0.99). Production elasticity was higher for off-farm income than that of kid production in C₁ producers. The contrary was verified for C₂ producers. Optimal policy for incrementing significantly the farm annual income would be to increase the producer size when the available natural resources and others farm characteristics would permit it.

Keywords : Production functions; Rangelands; Mendoza plain; Farm income; Kids; Off-farm income; Production elasticity.

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