Evaluation of the agricultural tractor park of Ecuador.
Reina C. L., Hetz E. J.
Author Affiliation: Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Technical University of Manabi, Portoviejo, Ecuador.
AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America 38 : 60-66
Abstract : The principal objectives of this work were to establish the tractor hours demanded by the agricultural production systems of Ecuador; to compare this demand with the actual tractor park and the total power available for agriculture; and to analyze the mechanization indicators of Ecuadorian agriculture. The main sources of information were the 2000 Agricultural Census, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Institute of Agricultural Research, the Central Bank of Ecuador, the Technical University of Manabi, the University of Loja, several agricultural engineers working in mechanization programs, and 18 producers in the provinces of Pichincha, Cotopaxi and Loja (Sierra Region) and Guayas, Los Rios and Manabi (Coastal Region). The production systems, cultivated area with 24 main annual and perennial (tree) crops, tractor hours demanded by these systems, human, animal and tractor power were established. The mechanization level indicators obtained were compared with levels recommended for developing countries and with the levels existing in other Latin American countries. The results show that the productive systems of annual and perennial crops have similar areas with about 1.2 million hectares each. To this, 3.3 million hectares of cultivated pastures were added. Annual crops have a much larger demand (2.56 times) of yearly tractor hours than perennial crops; cultivated pastures use very little tractor hours. The actual tractor park is 14?652 units that provide 716?880 kW of power. When the human and animal power are added, a grand total of 1?217?945 kW is reached. This power does not satisfy the yearly demand of annual and perennial crops, giving origin to a deficit of 2,600 tractors; larger deficits appear when pastures are considered and when recommended power levels for developing countries are considered. The actual mechanization level of Ecuador is 0.30 kW per hectare of annual and perennial crops. This indicator would go up to 0.36 kW/ha if the tractor deficit of 2,600 units were added. These levels are far from the ones existing in the majority of the other Latin American countries and farther from the levels recommended for developing countries. Other indicators, such as hectares and rural workers per tractor, also show an agriculture with low levels of mechanization.