Search

The management complexity of a farm along with the fact that Mexico has a great amount of small and medium-sized farms implies that the only alternative for improving their productivity and competency is the access to the integral, qualified and professional advising services. Given this fact, in the 80's, approximately 25,000 advisers were employed by the Mexican government for these purposes. Even though the program disappeared, other programs were implemented later on. These, however, were not effective. This is why from 2002 to the present; AGROPEC Star and the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo have created a methodology for the development of farms based on professional advising services in 20 farms. This methodology contemplates: 1. Actualization of the integral management of farms. 2. Transference of computer and communication technology to the advisers (Internet and AGROPEC Star software). 3. Elaboration of an integral, cooperative diagnosis and strategic analyses. 4. Elaboration, implementation and following of a Strategic Plan of Re-engineering Processes (SPRP) for the identified problems. 5. Implementation of a control, following and integral evaluation mechanism in the farms. 6. Specialized permanent consultancy by Internet. 7. Training programs for the producer and personnel. 8. Specialized consultancy in field. 9. Pursuit and evaluation of the performance of the advisers. 10. Entailment of the productive chain with the universities. The use of this methodology allows: updating for advisors, the generation and use of digitalized indicators of all the farms, development of research projects applied to the identified problems, and student participation to improve their professional performance in the advising market to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the work was to evaluate the impact of the CHAPINGOAGROPEC Star Integral Advising and Consultancy Strategic Model in the development of a dairy farm in the state of Jalisco, Mexico from January, 2004 to December 2005. The model consisted in: 1. Advisor actualization. 2. Use of computer technology tools, AGROPEC Star software and Internet in the process; 3. Elaboration of an integral, cooperative diagnosis and strategic analysis. 4. Elaboration, implementation and following of a Strategic Plan of Re-engineering Processes (SPRP) for the identified problems. 5. Pursuit and integral evaluation of the farm and the adviser. 6. Training programs for the producer and personnel. 7. Permanent consultancy via Internet. 8. Entailment of the productive chain with universities. The farm has 105 cows and 80 heifers of Holstein breed. The cattle were confined, AI was used and their feeding was with corn silage, alfalfa and concentrates. It has advisory services as well. The results were: a) Actualization programs in five areas given to the adviser. b) Problems identified by the diagnosis (initial value) and monitor progress with the SPRP (final value): Age at first parturition (25.47 - 24.68 m), parturition-first service interval (80.82 - 75.39 d), parturition-conception interval (134.16 - 108.65 d), conception rate (41.74 - 48.24 %), milk production average (21.40 - 22.27 L), days in production (353 - 357), dry days (63.41 - 59.83); c) Elaboration of an organizational chart and a procedures manual. d) Training programs in three areas given to the personnel. e) Evaluation of the adviser performance considering farm progress. f) Involvement of a student and professors in the work. The advisory model improved the productive performance, administrative process and personnel attitude; the latter was the most important for the solution of the main problems. The use of a digitized platform by the producer, adviser and consultant facilitates the farms development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]