Evaluación de alternativas de desarrollo sostenible en hatos de lechería especializada y doble propósito de la Escuela Centroamericana de Ganadería

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop a monitoring system based on sustainability indicators for the Specialized and Dual Purpose Dairy modules of the Central American School of Animal Husbandry (ECAG) and subsequently use this system to evaluate possible production alternatives. In the first study, a comprehensive monitoring system was developed to evaluate the production units of the ECAG. The monitoring system was based on key indicators for the main components of the production system in each of the dimensions: technical, economic, ecological and social. The methodology proposed in this study began with a process of characterization of the production systems (flow diagram) from which the components and their interactions within the systems were obtained, followed by an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), which allowed the definition of the matrix of objectives with their respective indicators. This matrix of indicators was collated and standardized by means of a reference system, which in turn allowed the integration of information into an index by means of weighting and aggregation processes. It was determined that the Integral Sustainability Indexes (I.S.I) in the dual-purpose and specialized dairy herds are at intermediate levels of development with respect to the ideals proposed (0.56 and 0.59, respectively), which implies that some indicators that are currently at low levels should be improved. The indicators that most affected the Integral Sustainability Index (I.SI. ) in the dual-purpose herd were: kilograms of milk per animal per day, services per conception, cost per kilogram of dry matter per semester, total costs per kilogram of milk, cost per kilogram of milk milked, cost per kilowatt per kilogram of milk per semester, percentage of area in forest, kilogram of organic fertilizer applied per hectare per semester, number of trees per hectare of paddock, percentage of leguminous plants in paddock, hours of training per semester and level of protection used. The indicators that most affected the I.S.I. in the specialized dairy herd were: kilograms of milk per animal per day, percentage of mastitis incidence, age at first calving, cost per kilogram of dry matter per semester, percentage of area in forest, kilogram of organic fertilizer applied per hectare per semester, number of trees per hectare of paddock, cubic centimeter of antibiotics applied per semester, percentage of live fences, hours of training per semester and protection used. In the second study, three different development alternatives were proposed for the Specialized Dairy module of ECAG, which were compared and evaluated against the current situation using Multiple Attribute Decision Analysis (MDA) using the TOPSIS method (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution); in order to estimate the overall impact of the use of each alternative on the Integral Sustainability Index (I.S.I). The alternatives proposed were 1) Use of leguminous plants in pastures, 2) Use of organic manure, and 3) Use of nitrogen fertilizers (chemical). To take into account the possible variation in yield of the alternatives compared, stochastic simulation techniques were used based on probability distributions obtained from the literature and from previous observations obtained within the same production unit. The comparison of the alternatives was made based on the results obtained in the sustainability indexes by dimension and the I.S.I. described in the first study. According to the results, the alternative of using legumes appears as the most favorable, because its I.S.I is the highest and is closer to the optimum (I.S.I = 0.67, Min = 0.62, Max = 0. 72), followed by the use of organic fertilizer (I.S.I = 0.61, Min = 0.57, Max = 0.66), and the use of nitrogen fertilizers (I.S.I = 0.60, Min = 0.55, Max = 0.64), all higher than the current situation (I.S.I = 0.54, Min = 0.50, Max = 0.58). The ranges of variation observed indicate that the significant differences between the alternative of legume use and the others are consistent, but not between the use of organic manure and the use of nitrogen fertilizers. The superiority of the use of legumes is linked to its higher yield mainly in the economic dimension (RR= 0.89), maintaining adequate levels in the ecological and technical dimensions (RR= 0.51 and 0.71, respectively). The other two alternatives do not achieve the same balance. A Sensitivity Analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of changes in the weighting factors of the different dimensions on the ranking of the alternatives according to I.S.I. By varying the weighting factors, slight variations are produced in the magnitude of the I.S.I., reducing the ranges of variation. However, the relative order of the alternatives remains unchanged, since the alternative use of leguminous plants continues to be superior to the use of organic manure and the use of nitrogen fertilizers, which in turn are above the current situation. The results show that the alternative with the best development potential would be the use of legumes.The objective of this research was to develop a monitoring system based on sustainability indicators for the Specialized and Dual Purpose Dairy modules of the Escuela Centroamericana de Ganadería (ECAG) and subsequently use this system to evaluate possible production alternatives. In the first study, a comprehensive monitoring system was developed to evaluate the ECAG production units. The monitoring system was based on key indicators for the main components of the production system in each of the dimensions: technical, economic, ecological and social. The methodology proposed in this study began with a process of characterization of the production systems (flow diagram) from which the components and their interactions within the systems were obtained, followed by an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), which allowed the definition of the matrix of objectives with their respective indicators. This matrix of indicators was collated and standardized by means of a reference system, which in turn allowed the integration of the information into an index by means of weighting and aggregation processes. It was determined that the Integral Sustainability Indexes (ISI) in the dual-purpose and specialized dairy herds are at intermediate levels of development with respect to the proposed ideals (0.56 and 0.59, respectively), which implies that some indicators that are currently at low levels should be improved. The indicators that most affected the Integral Sustainability Index (ISI. ) in the dual-purpose herd were: kilograms of milk per animal per day, services per conception, cost per kilogram of dry matter per semester, total costs per kilogram of milk , cost per kilogram of milk milked, cost per kilowatt per kilogram of milk per semester, percentage of forest area, kilogram of organic fertilizer applied per hectare per semester, number of trees per hectare of paddock, percentage of legumes in the paddock, hours of training per semester and level of protection used. The indicators that most affected the ISI in the specialized dairy herd were: kilograms of milk per animal per day, percentage of mastitis incidence, age at first calving, cost per kilogram of dry matter per semester, percentage of area in forest, kilogram of organic matter. fertilizer applied per hectare per semester, number of trees per hectare of paddock, cubic centimeter of antibiotics applied per semester, percentage of live fences, hours of training per semester and protection used. In the second study, three different development alternatives were proposed for ECAG's Specialized Dairy module, which were compared and evaluated with the current situation using Multiple Attribute Decision Analysis (MDA) using the TOPSIS method (Technique of Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution); in order to estimate the overall impact of the use of each alternative on the Integral Sustainability Index (ISI). The proposed alternatives were 1) Use of legumes in pastures, 2) Use of organic manure and 3) Use of nitrogen fertilizers (chemical). To take into account the possible variation in yield of the alternatives compared, stochastic simulation techniques based on probability distributions obtained from literature and previous observations obtained within the same production unit were used. The comparison of the alternatives was made based on the results obtained in the sustainability indexes by dimension and the ISI described in the first study. According to the results, the alternative of using legumes appears as the most favorable, since its ISI is the highest and closest to the optimum (ISI = 0.67, Min = 0.62, Max = 0. 72), followed by the use of organics. fertilizer (ISI = 0.61, Min = 0.57, Max = 0.66), and the use of nitrogen fertilizers (ISI = 0.60, Min = 0.55, Max = 0.64), all above the current situation (ISI = 0.54, Min = 0.50, Max = 0.58). The observed ranges of variation indicate that significant differences between the alternative of legume use and the others are consistent, but not between compost use and nitrogen fertilizer use. The superiority of legume use is linked to its higher yield mainly in the economic dimension (RR = 0.89), maintaining adequate levels in the ecological and technical dimensions (RR = 0.51 and 0.71, respectively). The other two alternatives do not achieve the same balance. A Sensitivity Analysis was performed in order to evaluate the effect of changes in the weighting factors of the different dimensions on the ranking of the alternatives according to ISI By varying the weighting factors, slight variations in the magnitude of the ISI occur, reducing the range of variation. However, the relative ranking of the alternatives remains unchanged, as the alternative use of legumes is still superior to the use of organic manure and the use of nitrogen fertilizers, which in turn are above the current situation.