COLLABORATIVE WORK IN THE LABOR (ARM) IN THE PRODUCTION OF HARD CORN IN THE PROVINCE OF LOJA (Atena Editora)

Abstract

In Ecuador, the province of Loja is located in third place in the production of hard corn, characterized by being cultivated in winter, only once a year in the cantons of Celica, Pindal and Zapotillo. For the most part, they are family crops that follow the process of sowing, cultural work and harvest, three agricultural activities that use labor, qualified by experience or training; a stratified random sampling was applied to the producers of hard corn with the use of surveys and checklists in focus groups considering the centers of activity such as planting where the work of clearing the forest, burning brush and, with the first winter rain, we proceed to sow without tilling the land, resulting in a decrease in the cost of labor; in cultural work: fumigation and fertilization; and, in the harvest: the collection, stacking and shelling of ears, activities that affect the cost; To reduce labor costs, the sectors of influence carry out a task called arm, which consists of organizing the help of one to four people to develop agricultural activities in a barter between neighbors, all depending on the extension of the cultivated hectares. The agricultural work carried out by the small, medium and large producer called arm is not recognized in Ecuadorian legislation regarding the work modalities stipulated in article 11 of the Labor Code; In order to avoid contractual problems in the workplace, article 3 regarding the exceptionality of paying remuneration to the members of the arm must be reformed.