PREFERENCE OF CONSUMERS AND AVAILABILITY TO PAY FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF CORCOBS OF HIGHER QUALITY

Abstract

In the state of Chiapas, México, different varieties of maize (Zea mays L.) are grown and sold in local markets and by street vendors, for the production of corncobs; however, there is no information about the frequency, quantity and characteristics that consumers take into account at the time of choosing a product that may have an impact on selection criteria for varieties. In order to answer this, a study was established to understand and systematize the characteristics of preference that the maize producer takes into account. A questionnaire was designed and applied in the municipalities of Villaflores, Ocozocoautla de Espinoza and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas. A simple random sampling was used with a level of trust of 95 %, and precision of 10 %, with n=106 surveys. It was found that the average age was 44, 41 and 43 years for the municipalities of Villaflores, Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Ocozocoautla, respectively. The main forms of consumption were tamales and cooked corncobs, and there is willingness to pay (disposición a pagar, DAP) overprize for larger pieces of sweet corn. In terms of the DAP for consumption of organic corncob, it was found that the consumers accept $2.8 more pesos per piece.