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La implementación de servicios bancarios digitales ha traído consigo ventajas significativas para las organizaciones, entre las cuales se destacan la obtención de respuestas instantáneas, la capacidad de gestionar de manera autónoma los servicios y la reducción de tiempos y costos. A pesar de estos avances, el sector agrario representa una de las industrias con menor adopción tecnológica y limitada inclusión financiera. Por ende, el propósito de esta investigación se centró en identificar los factores vinculados a la adopción de la banca digital por parte de productores agrarios de la región central de Colombia. Para ello, se realizó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, lo que permitió determinar la intención de uso de la banca digital por medio de cinco variables latentes, evaluadas por medio de veinte variables observables. Se encontró que la expectativa de esfuerzo, la influencia social, las condiciones facilitadoras y el hábito afectan positivamente la intención de usar los servicios financieros digitales. Los productores agrarios perciben la banca digital como útil, cómoda, fácil de implementar y con influencia de su entorno social. La percepción positiva hacia la banca digital entre productores sugiere un potencial para mejorar eficiencia financiera y promover desarrollo rural e inclusión, requiriendo políticas de accesibilidad y capacitación.

Los productores de leche asociados en la provincia Ubaté (Colombia) se autoexcluyen del crédito agropecuario principalmente porque hay demasiados requisitos, papeleos y temor de no poder pagar el crédito o perder la garantía. A través de árboles de decisión se analizan los determinantes de la necesidad, solicitud y aprobación de crédito agropecuario. Los resultados indican que el sexo de los productores es el criterio que mejor separa los datos y determina los demás factores relacionados con las decisiones de crédito agropecuario: tenencia y área del predio, productividad, nivel educativo y la dificultad percibida de obtener crédito.

The city of Bogotá requires approximately 2.7 million t of food products annually, of which 84% comes from the territories associated with the Central Region of the country (Bogotá, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Meta, and Tolima). Small agricultural producers, who supply food to the main urban centers through intermediaries, are now targeted by a new marketing strategy promoted by the district. The objective of this strategy is to transform agroredes (organizations of small agricultural producers, in Spanish) into participants in the food market in the city of Bogotá. However, these organizations need to enhance their operations; measuring their performance is fundamental for this purpose. The objective of this research was to assess the performance of 60 agroredes in the Central Region of Colombia using the organizational performance index (OPI). For this, a quantitative, transversal and descriptive research was carried out, evaluating agricultural organizations across various dimensions, including administration and finance, associativity and network management, marketing, information and communications technology (ICT), management and logistics, and storage. The organizational performance of the agroredes in the Central Region of Colombia is currently in a consolidation stage. The performance dimensions that have been identified are associativity and network management. However, the most significant challenges are found in ICT management.

Strategies to overcome the sugarcane crisis in recent years are based on technological improvements in production, product diversification, exports, associativity and organic production. The purpose of this research was to analyze the technical, economic, social, and environmental implications of organic production of panela using ASOPROPANOC as a case study. The comparative analysis between the certified organic production system and the traditional system was based on documentary review, surveys with producers of the association, interviews to experts of the municipality, and observation in farms and sugarcane mills. The results show that the organic panela production system improves yields by 11% due to new varieties introduced and a more orderly production culture. Producing organic panela requires increases in investment by 46% but compensates with higher income and profits (16%); it also generates more jobs, improves worker producer safety, their health and organization, and offers a better product to the consumer. The organic production system reduces between 50% and 150% the use of fuel materials per kg of panela produced as well as greenhouse gas emissions (between 1 and 91%) and water use (72%). Producing organic panela is an attractive option for growers.

Biochar is a product of pyrolysis obtained from any type of biomass and can be used as a soil amendment or conditioner, improving the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. Additionally, it can serve as an alternative to the application of synthetic fertilization in forest species such as Acacia mangium Willd. This research was oriented towards the determination of the economic efficiency of the use of biochar in A. mangium compared to the use of synthetic fertilizers. Production costs of wood and by-products, income and profits from forestry, economic efficiency of capital (cost-benefit ratio), labor (wood production per worker), and land (wood production ha-1) were considered. We found that the production of wood using biochar increased by 47% per unit area (ha), by 23% per unit of work (worker), and increased earnings by approximately one million Colombian pesos ha-1 compared to the use of only synthetic fertilizers.

The analytical network process (ANP) was used to analyze the functionality of small farmers’ organizations; 12 experts were consulted to verify the relevance and assign value comparative judgments to the criteria´s of the internal, external and functional sets. Judgments were added through AIJ technique, after of synthesis weights of relative importance for the criteria’s were estimated. The results show that the criteria´s of the internal set are the ones that are most important for the functionality, highlighting the leadership and management capacity, together with the market environment and the achievement of the objectives proposed by the members.

En el estudio se caracterizaron y analizaron de manera comparativa los sistemas de producción agraria en los resguardos San Félix (1° 10' 34.67" N y 76° 55' 04.33" O) y Tamabioy (1° 10' 24.36" N y 76° 56' 55.54" O) del departamento del Putumayo, Colombia, localizados entre los 2.000 y 2.150 m.s.n.m., con una temperatura promedio de 15 °C. La información de fuente primaria preliminar se recopiló directamente en las zonas de estudio mediante la realización de censos en ambos resguardos, seguidos de entrevistas con algunas familias de las fincas-hogar. En ambos casos se utilizó un cuestionario estructurado con preguntas cerradas y abiertas. En el resguardo Tamabioy se encontraron 55 familias y en San Félix 70, de las cuales 33 (49.5 %) y 54 (49 %), respectivamente, derivan sus ingresos de la actividad agropecuaria. En ambos resguardos se hallaron los sistemas agrarios: tradicional, comercial y de transición. El primero es el huerto casero; el segundo lo constituyen el cultivo de maíz en rotación con fríjol, la ganadería y la producción de pasturas; y el tercero la combinación de sistema tradicional más comercial. Otras actividades económicas presentes son los servicios, la artesanía y la agroindustria. La comercialización de los productos agrarios en Tamabioy es más eficiente que en San Félix, debido a la cercanía con las cabeceras municipales, en consecuencia los sistemas comerciales y de transición han entrado con mayor facilidad a la dinámica económica y, por ende, los huertos caseros han perdido importancia.

Cacao has high social importance in Colombia but requires cultivation techniques that improve its productivity, especially in the production of organic cacao. Pruning and organic fertilizers were assessed as treatments to increase the bean yield in an old cacao crop in Cundinamarca. The positive effects of organic fertilizer application and pruning on the pod morphometry and bean yield were established. The application of organic fertilizers with pruning, in general, increased the length and circumference of cacao pods. A negative correlation (R=-0.618) was found among the relative chlorophyll contents in leaves at the end of the harvest period and with the number of pods per tree. A positive correlation (R=0.748) was obtained between the fresh weight of pods and the dry weight of beans. No correlation was established between the relative chlorophyll contents in leaves and the bean dry weight. Pruning plus organic fertilization increased the total dry weight of beans per tree at almost 15 %, which makes pruning with organic fertilizer application the best tool for increasing yield in organic cacao production in old plantations in Cundinamarca.

Family farming is very important because it is, among other types, the principal source of food and employment, especially in developing countries. Given the constant changes in the agrarian structure and environment, what are the prospects of family farming under current conditions in South America? To answer this question, we have chosen three countries from this continent: Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Based on a literature review of case studies in each country, a comparative analysis of the following topics was carried out: purpose of family farming, production unit, and agricultural production, integration with the market, income, and food security. Many similarities were found in the studied countries, which allow for some generalizations in certain aspects related to the studied cases. Family farming is largely moving to the rhythm of the markets. Its transition from a condition of subsistence to commercial status depends mainly on the availability of sufficient resources for production: mainly land, labor, and financial capital. The scarcity of these resources is forcing farming families to seek other sources of income or to migrate. The monetization of farming is increasing.