Peasant production strategies with Agave tequilana in the municipality of Tequila, Jalisco

The cultivation of Agave tequilana Weber and tequila production are the main sources of employment in the municipality of Tequila. Small-scale agave producers are presently developing mechanisms in their production units that permit them to subsist against the strategies which the multinational companies promote to control this productive sector. The purpose of this research was to identify the strategies used by the agaveros and the producers, called taberneros, of artisanal tequila in the production of agave in the municipality of Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico. Two groups of small-scale agave planters were identified: agaverps, producers who only have agave plantations; and taberneros,who grow agave and produce artisanal tequila. The sample size of agaveroswas calculated using a probabilistic sample formula and the “snowball” sampling method was used for the taberneros. Data were analyzed by using parametric and non-parametric statistics.