PRODUCTION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX OF ORGANIC QUINOA (Chenopodium Quinoa WILLD.) IN THE INTERANDEAN VALLEYS OF PERU

Abstract

<p><strong>Background</strong>. The growing demand for organic quinoa in the national and international market has contributed to the intensification of quinoa cultivation under conventional production systems, causing changes in economic, environmental and social terms in the quinoa-producing areas of the inter-Andean valleys of the highlands of Peru. <strong>Objective</strong>. The aim of the study was to analyze the economic, social and environmental sustainability of organic quinoa production in plots of five communities in the province of Andahuaylas, Peru. <strong>Methodology</strong>. Surveys with structured questions were applied to a stratified sample of 50 organic quinoa producers with a focus on sustainability. The internal consistency of the scales used was validated by Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) using the optimal scale technique and the percentage scale was determined with 0 - 24% very low level of sustainability and 100% as optimal level of sustainability. <strong>Implications</strong>. The value of economic, environmental and social indicators determines the degree of sustainability of organic quinoa production systems. <strong>Conclusions.</strong> An Economic Indicator (KI) of 42.6%, Social Indicator (IS) of 52.7% and Environmental Indicator (EI) of 53.4% were found. The General Sustainability Index (GSI) was 50.9%, which results in an average sustainability level and with critical points related to the market and adverse climatic and biotic factors.</p>

Food and Medicinal Uses of Ancestral Andean Grains in the Districts of Quinua and Acos Vinchos (Ayacucho-Peru)

“…Quinoa has been selected as one of the crops destined to offer food security in the 21st century, due to its high capacity to withstand extreme environmental conditions and its qualities as a functional food. In addition, quinoa has gained space in international consumer markets in the last decade, which opens up economic opportunities for Andean producers [3,5,33,[35][36][37].…”

“…This has contributed to an overuse of toxic chemicals that are damaging ecosystems, which in turn has resulted in new outbreaks of pests and diseases, soils with diminishing biotic life and polluted waters. In addition, pests become more resistant to agrochemicals, which has led to a vicious cycle in which farmers need to apply more and more toxic chemicals each year, while the productivity of their land continues to decline [36,37].…”

ÍNDICE DE SUSTENTABILIDAD DE LA PRODUCCIÓN DE PAPA (Solanum tuberosum L.) EN CUTERVO, PERÚ

“…Los indicadores son herramientas adecuadas y flexibles para evaluar tendencias, establecer diferencias entre fincas y detectar puntos críticos de manejo de recursos para el logro de una agricultura sustentable (Zarei et al, 2021). Los indicadores se construyeron de acuerdo a la metodología propuesta por Sarandón y Flores (2014), siguiendo los lineamientos de Astier et al (2008) y adecuando al modelo empleado por Pinedo et al (2022). Se consideró al indicador como una variable seleccionada y cuantificada que hace clara una tendencia que de otra forma no sería fácilmente detectable (Sarandón, 2002).…”

“…Asimismo, la Figura 1 muestra las medidas discriminantes de las variables, indicando que la mayoría de los subindicadores presentan mayor concentración en la dimensión 1, siendo estos subindicadores los más representativos para analizar en las fincas y los niveles de sustentabilidad del agroecosistema de producción de papa. Las variables que se encuentran más distantes de la dimensión 1 son los casos atípicos, de acuerdo con lo descrito por Pinedo-Taco et al (2022)…”