WHO TO PRODUCE SUGAR CANE FOR? DIFFERENCES AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL IN MÉXICO

Abstract

Sugar cane (Saccharum spp.) in México is destined primarily to producing sugar in sugar factories, and powdered brown sugar or raw cane sugar in mills. The differences between municipalities that supply mostly mills and those that destine production to sugar factories were determined. Twenty indices were compared, elaborated based on the sugar cane producers’ census of the 2006-2007 sugar harvest in México. The results indicated that sugar cane producers who destine their product to mills signed less contracts, had less agronomic management, resorted to less services, were less organized for collective work, and had higher marginalization conditions than those who destine sugar cane to sugar factories (p<0.05). Only the indices of losses and crop disease did not have significant differences (p<0.05). The differences can be explained by geographical aspects (mountain vs valley), although they allowed pointing out the importance of the size of the agroindustry as well as the final destination of production, as development axes in the rural sector, and the differences in the final destination of production determine the competitiveness of the sugar cane sector in México