Influence Factors on the Current Technological Level in the Dual-Purpose Cattle Farms Located in the State of Zulia, Venezuela.

In Venezuela, several studies have been made to characterize the cattle farmers according to farm management and technological performance. However, for the date of this research, there were very few studies related to the determinant factors that influence on farmer decision for applying some technological practice or reaching a technological level different from other farmer, located in the same area. For this reason, the objective of this research was to identify and quantify the factors that have an effect or, technological level of cattle farms located in Northwestern and Perija zones of the Zulia State. In a sample of 102 farms previously stratified using K-means algorithm, resulting three technological groups: Low (TG(0)), Middle (TG(1)) and High (TG(2)). Later, an Ordered Probit model was applied in order to determine the factors that affect on technological levels of the cattle-farms. Five factors resulted determinant: Zone, education level, frequency of visit of producers to own farms, technical assistance and farm size. The model allows concluding that a farmer with a large farm located in Perija, having a university degree, applying technical assistance and visiting his or her farm frequently, has a high probability to belong to another group different from TG(0).