Resumen

PERALTA-RIVERO, Carmelo; CARTAGENA-TICONA, Pamela  y  FLORES-HUALLPA, Rosario. Socio-Economic and environmental effects of rice production (Oryza sativa) under mechanized agriculture in the municipality Puerto Gonzalo Moreno, Northern Amazon of Bolivia. CienciAgro [online]. 2017, vol.7, n.1, pp. 21-36. ISSN 2072-1404.

Abstract: Since 2016, a new extractivist production model has been developed in the municipality of Puerto Gonzab Moreno, northern Amazonof Bolivia. The rice underthe mechanized modelhad noprecedents in this región, and for this, the Departmental Autónomo us Government of Pando and the Autonomous Municipal Government of Puerto Gonzalo Moreno carry out the subsidy of the production of mechanized rice for nine communities in the fírst cycle of the project. Oven this new scenario, theobjective of this research was to analyze the socio-economic and environmentaleffects of rice production undermechanization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for a representative sample of peasants and indigenous beneficiaries of the project in orderto knowtheir perception and valuationfromtne scope ofthe sustainability ofthe project, which allowed to identify benefits andobstacles of the project. Ais o, the land use and land cover were evaluated through geographic information systems and the productionandyield costs ofrice cultivationundermechanization andits relationship with otheráreas ofBolivia underthe same system. It was evidencedthatthe project was wellreceived by the beneficiaries who highlight its importance, however, negative effects were detected in the socio-economic and environmental aspects. A total of 106 hectares underwent land use and land cover changes, of which 95,53 hectares of barbecho or secondary vegetation were deforested for project purposes. Likewise, the production costs for one hectare of the project exeeed Bs 10,600 and are higherin relation to other áreas of Bolivia. Similarly, productivity is lo wer compared to other áreas of the country. It is concluded that the main obstacles to the project in the socioeconomic and environmental scope were: the poor knowledge of the design of the project by the beneficiaries and their responsibilities to it, under learning and experience obtained, low source of employment generated, no knowledge oftheproductioncostsoftheprojectandtneprocessesofdeforestationthatthis involved. Deforestationprocesses accounted formore than90% and theproductioncost is highly associatedwith lowproductivity ofrice in the first cycle of the project.

Palabras llave : Mechanized agricultura; rice; agricultural frontier; deforestation; northern amazon of Bolivia.