Dynamics of grazing in the association of crops and sheep of temperate climate agroecosystems in Mexico.

MEXICO; TLAXCALA (Mexico : State); PUEBLA (Mexico : State)

The study analyzed the dynamics of grazing in sheep production associated with agricultural crops based on the social, productive, market, income, and environmental dimensions in the temperate region of Puebla and Tlaxcala, Mexico. The use of grazing, topography, climate, crops and type of vegetation in the production systems and data on the family, means of production, market and income were recorded with interviews applied to 256 sheep producers. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and response surface linear regression models and multilevel models, with the SAS statistical package. Five crop and sheep associations were defined as results. The response surface linear regression models, fitted for grazing percentage, had differences in the slopes estimated (P<0.05) for producer experience, schooling, days of work spent on sheep, value of facilities and flock size. The multilevel analysis showed that 19 % of the variance in grazing time (hours) was explained by the variables of crop and sheep associations (level 2) and the rest by production units (level 1). Multilevel models associated grazing time with income (P<0.01), percentage of lamb sales (P<0.01), schooling (P<0.05), days of work spent on sheep (P<0.05), flock size P<0.05) and grazing percentage (P<0.001). The study allowed the classification of agroecosystems and the identification of the most appropriate profile of producer for sheep production in the socioecological and economic context in the temperate region of Puebla and Tlaxcala, Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]