Family agribusiness from the approach of system dynamics

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the elements and interactions that affect the dynamics of a family agribusiness in Indaparapeo, Michoacán, during the agricultural cycle of spring-summer 2017. An exploratory and descriptive case study was conducted, using the participatory action research method, and the system dynamics approach to construct the causal model. The agribusiness was legally constituted in 2014 as a Limited Liability Rural Production Society whose main activities are production, stockpiling and trade of white corn, credit and cash sales of agrochemicals and seeds; it is made up of eight partners who are family, but only two manage and execute it since the beginning of its operation. In 2017 the society traded approximately 1/6 of the corn production in Indaparapeo, corresponding to the cycle 2016. The causal diagram elaborated represents a systemic and integrative vision of agribusiness that graphically shows its activities and 18 elements, where the variables that make up the nine circuits that self-regulate, transform and differentiate them from other systems in the market are determined, eight are feedback circuits and one is a balance circuit that provides stability. In the diagram, human capital stands out due to the number of direct and indirect interactions (eight) between it and the other elements and structures of the system.