Price formation in the eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) value chain in the department of Córdoba, Colombia

Abstract

The objective of the work was to analyze the price formation within the eggplant chain in the department of Córdoba (Colombia). Data from the weekly wholesale series of Montería market obtained from the DANE weekly information system during the years 2020 and 2021 were used. The other calculations for the retail intermediaries and wholesale food distributors come from the proportions found in socioeconomic characterization works of the production system. Engle and Granger cointegration techniques were used; as well as analysis of the relationships between the series, the integration of the links in the chain and its incidence in the price formation were determined. The results show the integration of the value chain being lower between the farmer and the final consumer, which was demonstrated with an elasticity of 0.34. The integration of the chain shows the price transfers from one link to another, also makes clear the increase when the link is changed, thus, the difference between the value paid by the consumer and the one received by the farmer is notorious. The work concludes that commercialization increases occur in the absence of adding value to the product.