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Revista de Ciencias Ambientales

On-line version ISSN 2215-3896Print version ISSN 1409-2158

Abstract

SANCHEZ-BRENES, Ronald J.  and  ARBOLEDA-JULIO, Esteban. Sustainability assessment of plantain crops in the Southern Caribbean of Costa Rica. Ciencias Ambientales [online]. 2021, vol.55, n.1, pp.250-270. ISSN 2215-3896.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/rca.55-1.12.

(Introduction):

Plantains are among the main foods produced worldwide due to their nutritional value. They are grown in the tropics by small farmers for subsistence and consumption economy. In Costa Rica, plantain plantations are in different sectors of the country, the Huetar Atlantic region (RHA) being one of the most important ones.

(Objective):

Sustainability indicators adapted to the reality of traditional production systems and conventional systems of small plantain producers in the Southern Caribbean of Costa Rica were evaluated, using the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) tool of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

(Methodology)

This research was conducted in the Southern Caribbean of Costa Rica, in the Bratsi and Sixaola districts, Talamanca. This region’s annual precipitation is 2 387 mm and the average temperature is 26.5 °C. Production systems were studied: two traditional and two conventional, each with a 2 500 m2 area. SAFA, a holistic tool to measure sustainability in agricultural production systems, was applied through 41 indicators of environmental integrity, economic resilience, and social well-being.

(Results)

Environmental integrity ranged between 42 and 87 %, economic resilience between 78 and 96 %, and social well-being between 81 to 96 %.

(Conclusion)

The sustainability evaluation showed that traditional systems had better scores than the conventional ones.

Keywords : conventional agrosystems; Musaceae; productivity; traditional agrosystems..

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