Estructura Y Funcionamiento De La Cadena Productiva De Esquilmos Agrícolas Como Forraje En La Región De El Bajío, México

The objective of this research was to identify the existence of a forage crop residues productive chain and analyze its structure and function in the Bajio de Mexico, to identify critical factors and generate recommendations to improve the integration between actors and links. Simple random sampling was used to survey 880 corn producers, sorghum, wheat and barley, 95 brokers and 200 livestock producers, from 67 municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Jalisco and Queretaro. The structure of the forage crop residues production chain consists of six links and nineteen segments. Marketing margins vary by the type and presentation of the product, the most common is the 25 kg small bale. The average amount of money paid to a local producer for a hectare of forage crop residue, is $ 240.00 pesos. On average, forage crop residue sold on 25 kg small bales, allows to a commercialization agent obtain a 131% marketing margin. The main critical factors in this chain are: lack of machinery by the producers, makes it not viable the cutting and packing of forage crop residues for them; lack of organization and coordination of the chain; and the chain inequality that shows high marketing margins in favor of commercialization agents. It is important to promote the integration of crop producers to the transformation to marketing access and then improve their forage crop residue sales revenue.