Networks of innovation and technological transference in meat and double-purpose cattle systems in Michoacán, Mexico.

Before the need to improve the competitiveness of the product meat and double-purpose cattle systems in the State of Michoacán (Mexico), the technology of innovation networks for the socioeconomic analysis and technology transference of this system is proposed. Through it all the important actors and the interdependences among them are identified and integrated, with the objective of enhancing their competitiveness, by expediting the process of technology transference. For that surveys were applied to 490 producers integrating 46 groups, distributed in 13 municipalities of the dry Tropic region of the State, and its later validation with producers and technicians was made. The education level of the producers was very low (third grade of elementary school) and the problem detected was distributed in the health, reproductive, nutritional, market and infrastructure aspects. Likewise, the production units we observed to be highly heterogeneous, which impedes the application of an innovation in a general way, and a low adoption rate of innovations (<40%) was observed. Through the diagnosis of the dynamics of the activity the (technical, social and commercial) network mapping was elaborated. The main strategies for expediting the process of innovation transference and adoption were the development of human capital and the exchange of experiences among producers. In addition the producer was observed to adopt those innovations that represented a lower cost and which were simpler to implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]