Determining factors and trends of agricultural productivity in a region of central Chile

Abstract

This research work consists in a temporal-spatial perspective analysis of the agricultural productivity of Nuble Region (Central Chile).As an indirect measurement of productivity, white wheat (Triticum aestivum) yield is analyzed in two different years (1997 and 2007) using Chile’s Agricultural Census statistics. Thematic maps of the spatial and temporal behavior of white wheat yield were elaborated by commune and agroecological zone, including spatial representation of soil erosion as one of the determining factors. Results show that productivity is not homogenous and that differences arise between commune and agroecological zone. No relationship was established between productivity variation and soil erosion. The tendency to subdivide small farms between 1997 and 2007 resulted in an increase of white wheat production, which might be an indication of change from those factors that have
been traditional in order to analyze productivity such as use of technology and state subsidies.