The agricultural production units are spaces for the production of food, producing these foods require an adequate management of the system, to execute the necessary activities in these agroecosystems specialized personnel are hired, said personnel before starting to carry out the activities that concern them should make a diagnosis to know what the situation of the agricultural enterprise is. Some specialists point out that diagnosis is a fundamental tool for making informed decisions and optimizing production processes, it is like a medical check-up for a farm that allows identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in order to establish improvement strategies and achieve the objectives set.
In this same vein, we can say that diagnosis is an important tool for the identification of problems in production units, because it allows timely detection of pests, diseases, nutritional deficiencies, management problems, among others, which can affect production and profitability, it also helps to efficiently use available resources (land, water, inputs, labor) and avoid economic losses, it allows making decisions because it provides the necessary information to make strategic decisions about which crops to plant, what animals to breed, what technologies to implement among other aspects.
On the other hand, it can also contribute to improving productivity because, it allows identifying areas for improvement and establishing concrete actions to increase production and product quality, climatic, economic and social conditions can be monitored which can facilitate the adoption of strategies to mitigate any difficulties that are identified. We also consider that a detailed diagnosis may be a requirement to access funding and government support programs.
In a diagnosis, several key aspects can be considered in agricultural production units ranging from agronomic management to economic, institutional aspects among others that are mentioned below:
- Biotic and abiotic factors: Soil analysis, climate, water, pests, diseases among others.
- Economic factors: Evaluation of production costs, revenues, profitability, market prices.
- Social factors: Labor force analysis, organization of production, access to markets.
- Technical factors: Evaluation of agricultural practices, the use of machinery, infrastructure, among others.
- Institutional factors: Public policy analysis, access to extension services.
Taking into account the aforementioned and how relevant a diagnosis can be in agricultural companies, several methodologies can be mentioned to make a diagnosis, such as surveys collecting information through interviews with producers, direct observation visiting production units to evaluate production conditions, analysis of records reviewing historical production data, costs, among others and preparing maps and geographic information systems.
| Final considerations |
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In summary, dear readers, the diagnosis is an indispensable tool to improve the management of agricultural production units, by identifying the strengths and weaknesses, better decisions can be made and achieve greater development of the sector. Among its benefits we can mention greater efficiency, optimizing the use of resources and cost reduction, increased profitability since, higher production and better sales prices can be achieved. If it is achieved, identifying the problems from the agronomic point of view can lead to establishing sustainable strategies to maintain a balance from the economic, environmental and social.
| Bibliographic references |
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- Aguilar, A and Piñon, M. (s.f).Technical-productive diagnosis of the production units Relative from the municipality of Urique, Chihuahua.
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