La producción de caprinos para carne en la montaña de Guerrero, México

Goat production for meat is part of the lifestyle of the families in the Mountain of Guerrero since Colonial times. With the objective of analyzing the ways of producing, managing and commercializing goats among producers, a direct survey was applied to 112 goat owners. The following variables about the family were recorded: use of land, management practices, and access to the market. Three typologies of goat producers were identified: a) goat-targeted (9.8 %); b) agricultural and livestock (25.9 %); and c) subsistence (64.3 %). The producers aimed at goats had the most experience in goats (31.8 years), labor (2 workdays), size of the flock (90 goats), and total earnings ($19 645.5); they use small-scale lands that they own and rent, shrub vegetation (40 %), goats crossbred with improved varieties, and flock health is the main problem. The agricultural and livestock producers have more land (4.1 ha) and handling pens (230.9 m 2 ). They select goats because of their height and adaptation to the environment, and they sell goats at the level of corral and in school festivities. Subsistence producers are users of ejido and communal lands, use forest zones (83.3 %), and select goats for their production. The goat meat producers in the Mountain of Guerrero have broad knowledge of the management of Creole goats and of the plants that fatten them and give the goat meat flavor, which can be the basis for the development of local producers with quality of origin.