SOSTENIBILIDAD DEL CULTIVO DEL ARROZ (Oryza sativa L.) EN LA ZONA DE DAULE, PROVINCIA DEL GUAYAS, ECUADOR

Abstract

The present research work was carried out in the rural sector Plan America belonging to Canton Daule, located in the Litoral or Coastal region, northwest of the lower basin of the Guayas province. The general objective of this work is to evaluate the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the rice production system in the area of Daule, province of Guayas. Based on which, alternatives can be proposed to improve the productivity, recover degraded soils and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of this study indicated that the age average for the producers in the Daule area is around 50 years. It was also showed that the main crop in this sector is rice and all the people are dedicated to agriculture; growing rice monocultures which is an activity done by more than two family members through traditional technologies. Some people consume directly the product of its harvests and others process it. The income from this activity is mainly designated to food, health, and education. In addition, it was seen that around 80% of the people have between 1 to 10 productive hectares. Agroecological indicators were found very sensitive to the realities of the rice system of the canton Daule, which suffered very similar edaphic deterioration in most of the variables evaluated, probably due to the continuous production of the monoculture.