Relative rates of return to controlled irrigation among classes of summer paddy in the Guayas Basin, Ecuador

To do this, farmers were divided into eight categories on the basis of farm practices, seasonal farming, irrigation facilities and level of mechanization. Profits per hectare ranged from 4,807 to 762.10 sucres per hectare. Mechanization varied from totally mechanized to total absence of machinery. Year round farming varied to seasonal farming. Average production varied from 110 quintals of hulled rice to 20 quintals per hectare. The preparation of farm budgets for the different types, presented some problems, due to the lack of available records by the small farmers and reluctance to provide data by the large mechanized units. The cost/benefit ratios of changing from one type of farming to another were calculated as well as the labor absorption possibilities for the different types of farming. These could provide a criteria for planification of rice production policies in Ecuador.