Some considerations on planning in the agricultural enterprise

Dear readers, as we all know planning is essential within the administrative processes of a company, in the past it was not given the necessary importance in agricultural systems, because some producers felt that the planning carried out was on paper, but they were not carried out in the planned period, as many unforeseen events arose. But it is no secret to anyone that unforeseen events can arise in any industry or commerce in the public or private sector, therefore, it must modify what is planned without this meaning that the plan is not useful.

In the same vein, it cannot be denied that the capacity of improvisation on the part of a manager is important to respond to changing circumstances, but improvisation should not be placed as a standard within the agricultural enterprise, because there is a risk that facilities will be built that will not serve any production support function, that will be invested in pastures without establishing any management, that will be purchased equipment that will not be used. In this sense, taking into account what has been achieved, some farms spend the whole year improvising, sometimes generating good income, other times having large losses, but very few times analyze the success or failure, without technical controls, much less a budget plan, measuring efficiency and costs.

Previously it was thought that having more land would mean more income, but with improvised management it was not known what the true direction of the company was, At present there are agricultural production units with smaller areas that generate more income, more jobs and are more productive because they run an administration. The essential thing would be for all farms to carry out an effective planning of their work and economic activities, which will ensure that the resources received by financing are managed efficiently and the goals proposed with the funding agency are met.

In the critical moments that Venezuelan agriculture has gone through, the production units that have stayed afloat are those that decided to plan and organize themselves to significantly reduce their production costs and be more productive, To do so, its goals were to produce more and more at a lower cost; to do so, it is necessary to plan what efficiency is desired to achieve, for the search of new agronomic, zootechnical, and administrative alternatives by breaking conventional paradigms.

Dear readers, farms should be seen as a company and in times of crisis the entrepreneur or producer should reflect and make the necessary adjustments to prevent his company from going bankrupt, For this, there is no single recipe for the diversity of agricultural enterprises, each facing its own strengths and limitations. In short, the intention is to produce more without incurring higher costs and maintain a balance in its production, thereby achieving the return of every dollar spent. There are now sustainable alternatives based on local resources that will allow each farm manager to ensure a better cost-benefit ratio.