Aceptación de variedades tradicionales de tomate en mercados locales. Un estudio de valoración contingente

Abstract

An alternative to the increasing food globalization is the growing of local varieties and its commercialization through short marketing channels or local markets. However, many of the traditional agricultural varieties suffer from various problems of vulnerability to illness and lower productivity that make them less attractive to farmers. The breeding of these varieties by backcrossing and natural selection allows for improved varieties that address these production problems, but finally they have to be accepted by consumers. In this work we analyze the consumer acceptance of two traditional tomato varieties genetically improved by analyzing the willingness to pay for them in comparison with their counterparts which are not genetically improved. We use the contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness to pay. The results indicate the existence of a potential consumer of these varieties who would pay for them at least its reference price. The willingness to pay for these varieties increases significantly when its origin is emphasized and when they are organically grown, so these are two strategies to be considered for marketing.