Farm system characterization of two municipalities in the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape

The purpose of this survey was to characterize family farming systems in the Nicaragua north central region. Household survey was carried on in 90 farms from El-Tuma La Dalia and Waslala. Five most dominant land types were studied for each farm system: cacao plantations, coffee plantations, basic grains, pastures, and patios was collected. The following information was collected based on structured interview to the household head or farm manager: a) General information of the property: location of the farm, long owning property, land uses, number of farms, cooperatives or links to projects related to agricultural activity. b) Household composition: household members, age, sex, education, outside farm economic activities. c) Food security: food origin, difficulty to feed the family long one calendar year, and cost of food over the last year (product, quantity, price and period). d) General characteristics of the farm: farm diversification, type of productive systems, type of crop, area, livestock. e) General characteristics of land use: area, previous use, years of managing the use, planting distance, seeded varieties. f) Productivity: crop yields and animal production, maximum historical production, minimal production and normal (most common). g) Livestock and crop management: cropping activities and periodicity, type and quantity of inputs (fertilizers, man labor, etc.) h) Agroecological practices: associations, rotations, etc., soil and water practices conservation. i) Farm income and marketing products.