Tesis (Maestría)

85 referencias bibliográficas en p. 78-85

This thesis compares the economics of two agroforestry systems: growing coffee in plantations (Coffea arabica var. caturra), using either poro (Erythrina poeppigiana) alone or poro with laurel (Cordia alliodora) for shade trees mixed with the coffee bushes. The hypotheses were that: 1) The net present value (NPV) of the coffee/laurel/poro (laurel) is better than the NPV of the coffee/poro, (poro), 2) There will be more firewood accruing from the laurel combination, 3) There will be lower labour requirements for pruning in the laurel combination and 4) Market risk for coffee is better handled by the laurel farmer. An initial survey of 20 small farms in the Turrialba area of Costa Rica was made to describe typical systems in the zone and to derive estimates of farm management costs and coffee yields. A sub-sample of two groups of four farms each was then taken: coffee farms with poro alone and coffee farms with poro and laurel. On each of these eight farms, a questionnaire was given and measurements taken to determine yields, product prices and costs. Results indicated that the Laurel Farms had a higher net present value than the Poro Farms over 25 years, due principally to higher coffee yields. This larger NPV differences, however, may have been affected by the location of the farms. The impact of income from trees was significant only during periods of low coffee prices. Poro farmers had higher per hectare labour costs than laurel farmers. Increased firewood form the Laurel Farms was trivial. Both types of farms showed management strategies for handling market risk, but the poro farmers had higher costs using these strategies.

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