Competitiveness of the Persian lemon in the Papaloapan region, Oaxaca

Abstract

The area devoted to Persian lemon cultivation in the Papaloapan Basin region, Oaxaca, increased by more than 86% in the last ten years while its participation in international markets increased. This fact, together with the favorable natural conditions of the region for the production of the crop, shows a potential for growth. The objective of the research was to evaluate the competitive performance of the producers of said region, as well as to calculate its price-cost competitiveness through the application of a survey. In the first case, we used the valuation of their positioning capacity in the market and the knowledge they have of it. For the calculation of price-cost competitiveness, the Policy Analysis Matrix was taken as the basis. The results show a low competitive performance due to the fact that less than half of the surveyed population performs technological development and human resource training activities that allow them to position themselves better in the market, in addition to a lack of knowledge of the demands of national and international markets. On the other hand, the results show that the relative remuneration of the capital producer for the 2015-2016 cycle was: 88%, 89% and 92% for small, medium and large producers; respectively, which reflects the competitiveness of producers in terms of the price-cost ratio.