Characterization of Cattle Farms for Rural Extension Work in Ecuador II. Classification

Resumen

The aims of this paper were to classify cattle farms by multivariate statistics, and to characterize the groups of cattle farms of two parishes in Chunchi canton, Chimborazo province, Ecuador, for rural extension work. The factors achieved in the reduction of dimensions (8) were used to make hierarchical clustering analysis based on the Ward´s method, with an Euclidean distance cut of 15. Four groups were made and named after the appearance frequency. The groups were characterized using the central tendency and frequency distribution. Group 4 was superior in terms of area, though all the farms studied may be regarded as small, according to the classification of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). The number of trees was lower in group 2, suggesting interest in intensification based on space. Group 4 had more cows, thus recurring to concentrated feeds more often. Group 1 reported the need for more training. It was concluded that groups 1 and 3 required greater support from the rural extension system; whereas group 4 showed traits of numerical superiority of the variables. Accordingly, an efficiency study of the groups identified is suggested.