Diversidad y complejidad de los modelos de toma de decisiones y organización productiva en el sector agropecuario del Noreste Pampeano. Aportes para la mejora de la extensión y el desarrollo rural

Abstract

En la actualidad, en el sector agropecuario argentino conviven distintos paradigmas productivos y modelos de organización, sobre los cuales se estructuran y co-existen distintas lógicas de funcionamiento gerencial o de toma de decisiones. Por ello, es de gran utilidad comprender como se estructuran las actuales lógicas gerenciales e identificar cuáles son las formas o modelos que utilizan los productores agropecuarios para tomar decisiones a nivel de sus unidades productivas. Este es el tema central de abordaje en esta tesis, pues lo que interesa es identificar, conocer, comprender y analizar las diversas formas de toma de decisiones y organización productiva del sector agropecuario, entendiendo sus lógicas de funcionamiento en relación a la composición y trayectoria familiar, la edad y el nivel educativo de los productores, el acceso a la información y la dotación de recursos que posee el productor, con el fin de detectar si algunos modelos son más efectivos que otros, en términos de generación de ingresos y rentabilidad de las empresas agropecuarias. Pero más allá de la comprensión de los sistemas de toma de decisiones, este trabajo se inserta en una problemática más amplia vinculada a los sistemas de extensión rural de la Argentina, en particular, el del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Por ello, también interesa indagar sobre la existencia o no de una relación directa entre los diferentes modelos de toma de decisiones y los sistemas de extensión rural y transferencia de tecnología, públicos o privados, utilizados por el productor. Es decir, identificar si cada modelo de toma de decisiones se corresponde con un sistema específico de extensión y transferencia de tecnología, lo cual permitiría pensar que un cambio en las modalidades y estrategias de extensión y transferencia de tecnología podría influir sobre los modelos de toma de decisiones y, por ende, incidir en los resultados económicos - productivos de las explotaciones agropecuarias. En función de estas hipótesis, el objetivo del presente trabajo es identificar, caracterizar, analizar y definir los modelos de toma de decisiones en los modelos de organización productiva del Noreste de la Provincia de La Pampa (Departamentos Chapaleufú, Trenel y Maracó), como aporte para la mejora de la gestión del Sistema de Extensión Rural y Transferencia de Tecnología del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria.

Currently, in the Argentine agricultural sector paradigmatic paradigms of production and organizational models coexist, on which logical practices of management or decision making are structured and coexist. Therefore, it is very useful to understand how management logical structures are identified in the forms or models used by agricultural products to make decisions at the level of their productive units. This is the central theme of this thesis approach, because what is important is to identify, know, understand and analyze are the different forms of decision making and productive organization of the agricultural sector, understanding their logics of operation in relation to the composition and trajectory family, the age and educational level of the producers, access to information and the allocation of resources that the producer has, in order to detect if some models are more effective than others, in terms of income generation and profitability the agricultural companies. But beyond the understanding of decision-making systems, this work is inserted in a broader problem linked to the rural extension systems of Argentina, in particular, that of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology. Therefore, it is also interesting to inquire about the existence or not of a direct relationship between the different decision-making models and the systems of rural extension and technology transfer, public or private, used by the producer. That is to say, to identify if each decisionmaking model corresponds with a specific system of extension and transfer of technology, which would allow thinking that a change in the modalities and strategies of extension and transfer of technology could influence the models of decision making decisions and, therefore, affect the economic-productive results of agricultural holdings. Based on these hypotheses, the objective of this paper is to identify, characterize, analyze and define decision-making models in the models of productive organization, as a contribution to improving the management of the Rural Extension System and Technology Transfer of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology. To approach the research, a hypothetical - deductive / inductive scheme was designed and a quantitative methodological strategy was implemented. For this, the agricultural sector of the Northeast of the Province of La Pampa (Departments Chapaleufú, Trenel and Maracó) was considered as a universe under study, defining as unit of analysis the productive units identified in the region. From this framework, for the identification of productive units secondary sources were surveyed in order to segment, by departmental location and surface area, the different agricultural holdings of the area under study. Then, from the identification and segmentation of the productive units, a random sampling was carried out to select the units to be surveyed. At the same time, a semi-structured survey was designed that acted as an instrument for gathering data on the producer, the family, the agricultural exploitation, the productive logics, the forms of organization and, especially, on the decision-making processes in productive units such as object of study. The secondary information reviewed and the data collected through the semistructured survey were systematized and analyzed in stages. For this purpose, different tools, techniques and statistical analysis software were used, in order to generate basic information that, once processed, it is feasible to be contrasted with the conceptual frameworks on decision-making reviewed. Thus, on the basis of the results of the survey and from the different crossings between variables, progress was made in the construction of profiles or typologies of agricultural producers according to how they structure and what forms they use to make decisions about the components technical-productive and economic-financial aspects of agricultural holdings. To do this, from the statistical component, we used the classification or cluster analysis methodology of bi-ethapic character, which consists of classifying a series of objects or observations in homogeneous groups called conglomerates (clusters), based on some criteria of predetermined selection, in order to generate groups or types similar internally and different with respect to other groups or types, from the resources of the software SPSS-statistics. Then, from the results of the bi-stage classification analysis, the typical characteristics of the decision making that identify the general profile of each group were recovered and detailed considering, on the one hand, the conceptual properties reviewed and, on the other hand, the modal characteristics revealed for each cluster. The conjugation of these elements allowed defining the different typologies of decision making and adapting them, for a better interpretation and characterization, from the modal situations that are manifested and are typical of the agricultural sector of the Northeast of the Province of La Pampa. In this regard, it is observed that in the area under study co-exist and can be defined, based on the characteristics and conditions on which the decision-making processes are structured, four decision-making models. These are: "network innovator"; "familytraditional"; "family-business" and "executive-administrative". Therefore, it is concluded that, from the contrast between the results of the analysis of the explanatory and categorical variables of the decision-making processes and the reference conceptual framework, the objective of this work was reached in terms of identifying, characterizing and defining the different models of decision making and productive organization of the agricultural sector of the Northeast of the Province of La Pampa. Likewise, for each of the decision-making and productive organization models identified and characterized, it was possible to understand the logics of functioning and the relationship with the composition and family trajectory, the age and educational level of the producers, access to information and the allocation of resources that producers have to manage and decide on their prductive units. Finally, it was demonstrated that in order to have an effective impact on the decisionmaking processes, the Rural Extension and Technology Transfer System of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology needs to know and understand how they are structured and what the logics are. From there, they will be able to innovate and/or redesign their rural extension strategies, adapting them to the characteristics of each decision-making model, in such a way that intervention in the management of decisions promotes, first and foremost, taking into account the economic rationality of agricultural producers, the increase of production and the improvement of profitability and sustainability of agricultural holdings, and then, from there, promote systemic processes of rural territorial development.