An integrated approach to assess sustainability in dairy farms of Costa Rica: 1. Development of an indicator matrix

摘要

Amatrixofobjectivesandkeyindicatorswasdevelopedtomonitorthesustainabilityofspecializeddairyfarms.TheinformationwasobtainedfromtendairyfarmslocatedinCartago,PoásandSanCarlos;CostaRica.Themethodologypresentstwophases:characterizationofthesystemandadevelopmentofamatrixwithobjectivesandindicators.Thecharacterizationismadebymeansofastaticdiagnostic,aflowchartandthedefinitionofstrengths,weaknesses,opportunitiesandthreats(SWOT).Thematrixofobjectivesandkeyindicatorswasbuiltforeachcomponentwithintheecological,economic,socialandtechnicaldimensions.Accordingtotheflowcharttherearefivecomponents,named:animal,plants,theinfrastructure,thehumanandthesoil-watercomponents.TheSWOTindicatesthatthemainstrengthwithintheecologicaldimensionistheavailabilitywoodsandthehighqualityofpastures,originatingtheobjectivetomaximizetheuseofforages.Intheeconomicdimensionthemainstrengthisanadequateprofitability,whichleadstotheobjectiveofmaximizingprofitabilityperarea.Ontheotherhandthebiggestweaknessisthehighproductioncost,whichisrelatedtotheobjectiveofdecreasingvariablecosts.Inthesocialdimensionthestrengthsarethestabilityofthelaborandtheaccesstosocialservices;generatingtheobjectiveofoptimizingworkers'qualitylife.Inthetechnicaldimensionthemainopportunityistoincreasetheproductivityperarea;whichgeneratestheobjectiveofmaximizingproductivityperarea.Thebiggestweaknessinthisdimensionisthehighdependencyonexternalfeedsupplieswhichisdirectlyrelatedtotheobjectiveofoptimizingtheuseofsupplements.Itisnecessarytoimplementthismethodologyatthefarmlevelandassessitseffectivenessincomparingthesustainabilityofsystemswithsimilarproductionlevels.