COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR PINEAPPLE (ANANAS COMOSUS (L.) MERR.) PRODUCTION IN VERACRUZ, MEXICO

The financial profitability of six pineapple production technologies used in the State of Veracruz during the year 2002 was compared and the relative advantages of each technology were analyzed considering different items. Technologies included two very traditional technologies, favored by producers in the region: P/Baja/Tec (producer’s low technology) and P/Tec/med (producer’s standard technology). Four other technologies developed by INIFAP (the Mexican Institute for Research on Agriculture and Forestry) were also analyzed. The first two INIFAP technologies are similar to those of producers, but they were improved through the research process: INI/Nac/NM (INIFAP domestic market, non-mechanized type) and INI/Nac/M (INIFAP, domestic market, mechanized type). The last two INIFAP technologies evaluated were aimed at the foreign market: INI/Exp/M, (INIFAP, foreign market, mechanized type) and INI/Exp/AT, (INIFAP, foreign market, high technology type). The data from all the technologies was analyzed by the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM). PAM enables crop performance to be verified in a production cycle and to evaluate return on investment and on labor, including depreciation and cost of capital. Three matrixes were created on a computer worksheet: one for production technique coefficients, another for private prices and a third one for the calculation of private budgets at 2002 market prices. The profits for each technology were obtained by the difference between revenues and total production costs. The highest profitability was for two of the INIFAP mechanized technologies (INI/Nac/M and INI/Exp/M), and the most traditional producer’s technology (P/Baja/Tec). However, all the technologies used by producers involved high risk levels, since they have several deficiencies in managing some controllable factors of production. It is concluded that the technologies that INIFAP made available for pineapple production are good alternatives for a better use of water and a more efficient pest and disease control. Furthermore, INIFAP technologies provide greater economic return on labor and invested capital.