Agricultural Progress in Ecuador, 1970-82
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r~ P8,,-1>21" FAER~208 AGRICur,TURAL l'ROGRESS IN ECUADOR, 1970,..82. (FOREIGl'I AG.RICU LTURAL ECONOMICREl'T •. ) I S~ RUFF ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE~ WASHIN' , GTON, bc. INTERNATION.AL ECONOMICS DIV'. NOV 84 5,QP " I .. , , ." '"'-.:: 'i>t "'. 2 8 2 5 1.0 ~: 11111 . 11111 . 3 2 ~ 11111 . " ~. ObI ~I~~ :;; ~~ 2.0 .:. I ~ u. 111111.1 "IU.u.~ 111111.25 111111.4 111111.6 PB85-132785 Agricuit:\1t!a1 Progress in Ecuador, 1970-82 (u.s.) Economic Research Service, Washington, DC Nov 84 r=5o::02~72~'~IO~t~'::"':'~~~~~~~"""""".~~~---------'"T"::~""";------'T':-=,-:--:-~~---.-------, REPORT DOCUMENTAriON \1. REPORT NO. 12. 3. Recipient', AceeSlSlon No•• PAGE FAER-208 PR~' 1'278 5 •• Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date November 1984 Agricultural Progress in Ecuador. 1970-82 7. Author(s) 8. Perform/nil O,.anlzation Rept. No. Samuel Ruff FAER·208 9. Perft'lrminc O,.anlzation Name and Addr'!s. 10. ProiectIT8IIklWork Unit No. International Economics Division Economic Research Service U. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No. U.S. Department of Agriculture (C) Washington, D.C. 20250 (G) ~: 12. Sponsorlnc O,.an/zatlon Name and Addres. 13. T),IM of Report & Period Covered 14. 15. Supplementary Notes I&. Abstraet (Limit: 200 words) ~. The petroleum bonanza that transformed Ec.uador's economy after 1970 increased per capita income and funded agricultural development. Higher imcomes increased demand for foods which had to be filled by imports, most of which came from the United States. The United States was the major market for expanding agricultural exports. Production of export-oriented crops-cocoa. bananas, and coffee-was stimulated by high world prices and government renovation policies. Imported breeding cattle and growth of a poultry industry sharply increased livestock production. Projects were begun to irrigate the large areas in the coastal plain in the eighties. 17. Document Analysl. a. Descriptors Agriculture Irrigation Trade Cattle Economic analYSis Petroleum Exports Rice Imports Sugar Incomes Production b. Identifiers/Open·Ended Terms Bananas Cocoa ~--------"~--------------------- Prices as of 1/1/84 Ecuador Paper: Agricultural development Fiche: Per capita income $4.50 Cost codes are: for Paper Livestock production c. COSATI Fleld/'Group 02-B; 05-C and AOI for Fiche 18. Availability Statemen: 19. Security CI... (Thl. Report) 21. No. of Pages National Technical Information Service Unclassified 52 5285 Port Royal Road,' Springfield, VA 22161 22. Price .... 20. S41curlty Cia •• (This PllaO) Unc.1assified See box 17 (S.e ANSI-z39.18) Sa. Inatruct/on. on R..,.,..e OPTIONAL FORM"272 (4-77) (Formerly NTI~35) Department of Commerce PB85-132785 United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Progress Economic Research Service in Ecuador, 1970-82 Foreign Agricultural Economic Report Samuel Ruff Number 208 'REPROOUCED BY , NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE us DEPARTMENT DFCOMMERCE , . SPRIIIGflElD. ~A. 22161 '-------------------'''''.""""''''",,...".,,,,m;.~;:;:,,;::;<""=·~f...JI!I"'.~~,;..~I""':..;.;rr~'rIt"~;.,.\.,,:~~t·· ..~l Agricultural Progress in Ecuador, 1970-82. By Samuel Ruff. International Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agricul ture. Foreign Agricultural Economic Report No. 208. Abstract The petroleum bonanza that transfonned Ecuador's economy after 1970 increased per capita income and funded agricultural development. Higher incomes increased demand for foods which had to be filled by imports, most of which came from the United States. The United States was the major market for expanding agricultural exports. Production of export-oriented crops-cocoa, bananas, and coffee-was stimulated by high world prices and government renovation policies. Imported breeding cattle and growth of a poultry industry sharply increased livestock production. Projects were begun to irrigate the large areas in the coastal plain in the eigi:lties. Keywords: Agriculture, bananas, cattle, cocoa, coffee, Ecuador, imports, irriga tion, petroleum, rice, sugar, trade. Cover: Extension agent visiting fanner in Pichincha Province who is taking part in a program to increase production of corn, barley, and other crops. Photo: Inter-American Development Bank. Sales Information Additional copies of this report may IJe purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Ask for Agricultural Progress in Ecuador, 1970-82, FAER-208. Call the GPO order desk at (202) 783-3238, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. eastern time, for prke infonnation or to charge a purchase to your VISA, MasV~rCard, or GPO Deposit Account. Microfiche copies at $4.50 each may be purchased from the National Technical Infonnation Service, Identification Section, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. Enclose check or money order payable to NTIS, or charge to your American Express, VISA, MasterCard, or NTIS Deposit Account. For more infonnation, call NTIS at (703) 487-4780. Washington, D.C. 2G250 November 1984 Preface This report, originally requested by ':~e u.s. Embasssy in Quito, documents the changes and progress made in Ecua ;;)rian agriculture. It is intended for use by exporters, members of the farm community, economists, policyrnakers, and Government officials in the United States and Ecuador. The reader shoulrl. be aware of the sources of the estimates. While there are many, the primary source is the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which maintains an ag:ricuItural attache in Quito. The USDA has considerable confi dence in the attache's data as the statistics are justified in terms of trade, pro duction, and consumptibn. However, they often differ from those of the Government of Ecuador. For the reader who has further interest in Ecuador's agriculture, indispensable Government sources are the annual production statistics'of the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia and the trade statistics of the Anuario de Comercio Exterior. The statistics of the former are the only source of area and produc tion statistics by Provin~e. They appear to be somewhat higher than those of USDA. The last USDA publication devoted to Ecuador, Agricultural Production and Trade of Ecuador, ERS Foreign Report 218, by Etty Leiserson, was pub lished in 1968. The most recent of two World Bank country studies on Ecua dor was published in July 1979. Its comprehensive coverage of Government institutions involved in agriculture is especially useful. The Inter-American Development Bank has generously shared its unpublished research; for exam ple, the annual studies by Conrad Gislason and Wayne Ringlien. The Five Year National Development Plan 1979-1984, prepared under President Osvaldo Hurtado during his tenure as vice president, provided a perspective on the decline of hacienda agriculture since 1950 under the impact of capital and com mercial agriculture. Finally, a vivid picture of the competition in the political process among different economic groups before the advent of the petroleum bonanza is provided by L.A. Brownrigg in "Interest Groups in Regime Changes in Ecuador" (Inter-American Economic Affairs, Vol. 28, SummErr 1974). Note. Additional data on u.s. exports to Ecuador, Ecuador's exports, and pro duction of bananas, livestock, and other principal commodities, developed for this study, are available on request from the Latin America Branch, IED, Economic Research Service, U.S. Depa.rtment of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Author's Acknowledgments I am especially indebted to Milton Anderson of the Foreign Agricultural Ser vice who, as the attache in Quito during the early seventies, was practically a pathfinder. He accompanied me on a field trip through the upper Sierra and arranged a similar trip through the Guayas River basin and reviewed an early draft of this report. I would also like to thank subsequent attaches Lloyd I. Holmes, W. Lynn Abbott, and Leonidas Bill Emerson for their help, especially with trade publications and statistics. A share of the credit goes to Linda Turner, Norma Giron, Denise Sanchez, and Delores Riley, for secretarial support provided with patience and professional ism through several revisions and publication. Contents Page SUITlmary ....".""................."..........................................."............................................................ iv Some Basic Facts About Ecuador ...................................................."........""......."......... vi Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 1 The Development of Agriculture ...................................................................................... 2 Ecuador's Two Agricultural Zones ................................................................................... 2 Influence of Demand ............................................................................................................. 3 Government Role .................................................................................................................... 3 Crop Production and Use ..................................................................................................... 9 Bananas ..................................................................................................... .................................. 9 Rice ................................................................................................................".............................