Socioeconomic situation of totomoxtle production and commercialization in the State of Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

In Mexico, the integral use of maize complements the income of production units. This study was carried out in the state of Puebla, Mexico, to document social and economic aspects linked to the production, collection and commercialization of totomoxtle in the regions of Puebla, Serdán and Tehuacán. In 2011, 33 questionnaires were applied to totomoxtle sellers in the main state markets. Another instrument was applied to 47 totomoxtle producers in the localities that supply the highest volume of totomoxtle to these markets. With the information obtained, descriptive statistics were calculated and variance, principal components, cluster and correspondence analyses were carried out. It was found that the highest percentage of totomoxtle that is sold in the main markets came from relatively nearby localities. Of the producers who sold totomoxtle, 100% used seed from native maize populations selected from the previous cycle. There were differences between totomoxtle producers attributable to economic variables (linked to the profit derived from the sale of maize products), productive variables, and other variables associated to the time devoted to totomoxtle production and use. Most of the producers (59.6%) had a benefit-cost relationship lower than one whey they only used maize grain; this benefit increased between 8.3 and 31.2% when adding the use of totomoxtle. Producers from Altepexi (Tehuacán region) obtained the highest volumes of grain and totomoxtle, and the highest benefits from the sale of both products. Of the producers, 11% considered that totomoxtle production is more relevant than grain production, while 76% of them conferred the same importance to grain and to totomoxtle production.