Economic benefits of post-harvest storage of pecan nuts in the south-central region of Chihuahua

Abstract

Chihuahua is the main pecan nut producer of the country with a participation of 64% of the national production. It is unknown what is the percentage of this production that is sold immediately after the harvest, as well as the benefits obtained by those who choose to store it before selling it. The present investigation is based on the premise that pecan nut storage represents an economic benefit for the producer by increasing the possibility of obtaining a better price by extending the marketing period. The lack of information on prices and handling after harvest often causes producers to rush to sell their nuts. The objective is to generate information on the economic benefits of post-harvest storage of pecan nuts in the central-southern region of the state of Chihuahua. To obtain the information, a historical analysis of the average sales prices per month was carried out. A questionnaire was applied to a representative sample of nogaleros from the region and based on this a characterization of the current storage situation was made to identify the cost-benefit ratio of pecan nut storage, according to the results obtained, it is concluded that It is profitable to store the nut for certain periods and these results allow determining in which month it is more profitable to sell the nut.