PRODUCER PROFILE BY INTENSITY OF MANAGEMENT ON VANILLA (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews) IN THE TOTONACAPAN REGION, MEXICO

Abstract

During the last 250 years in Mexico, traditional knowledge about cultivation of vanilla under different production systems and levels
of management has been accumulated. Since each system reflects the individual and collective experience of vanilla management and
decision making criteria, the profile of the vanilla producers was studied in a gradient of management intensity for vanilla (Vanilla
planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews) in the Totonacapan region of Puebla and Veracruz. For this purpose, 47 producers who expressed knowledge
about vanilla were interviewed. From a semi-structured interviewand a survey, an analysis of variance by ranges and clusters was carried out, grouping the producers from 11 variables that defined the intensity of management. Four vanilla management profiles were identified: a) Peasants who occasionally collect the green or dry fruit, and the patterns of the plants of the forest; b) Those that tolerate and protect plants in agricultural fields, without treating it as crop;
c) Those that are occasionally cultivated in traditional and technified production systems; and d) Those that treat vanilla as a crop, with
specific knowledge in handling, fertilization, pollination, processing and storage. The results showed that there are significant differences
in the management of vanilla that is possibly due to the level ofsocioeconomic importance of the orchid.