Problems Facing Peasants In The Growing Of Beans In Haiti

A one year study of the production systems of 15 agricultural units in a mountain village, has made obvious the importance of beans in the farming system and the major problems posed by the cost of seeds in the total costs of production of this species. Poor means of production, lack of finances, problems of preserving, and high prices of beans at sowing-time, encourage farmers to avoid these obstacles by sowing three-times a year. Very few of them will achieve complete self-supply, and most of them will have to resort to partial and costly purchases, sometimes at the expense of the means of production. The analysis of planning inside the production unit adds to the information given by the Salagnac Research-Development system (1976-1982): observation of techniques, experiments, steady observation of land occupation, agrarian system. This analysis underlines the necessity of continuing the research on species in order to complete the range of bigseed varieties already available, with cheaper smaller seed varieties.