A bibliometric analysis of cleaner production in the floriculture sector in

Colombia over the last 15 years

Un análisis bibliométrico sobre la producción más limpia en el sector floricultor en Colombia

en lo últimos 15 años

Helem Tatiana Vega Sánchez

Abstract

The production and export of cut flowers is one of the main products of the agricultural sector in

Colombia with 4,000 ha of production and an annual growth in exports, as well as the increasing

requirements of the international market, therefore it is of great importance to achieve a suitable product

through the improvement of processes and the incorporation of cleaner production techniques. The

objective of this work is to analyze the scientific production in Colombia in relation to the rest of the

world in the period 2005-2019, using the Scopus database filtering with the keywords "cut Flowers"

observing the temporal trend of publications and the co-occurrence of keywords that emphasize

Resumen

La producción y exportación de flores de corte es uno de los principales productos del sector agrícola

en Colombia con 4.000 ha de producción y un crecimiento anual en exportación, así mismo aumentan

los requerimientos del mercado internacional por lo tanto es de gran importancia conseguir un producto

idóneo por medio del mejoramiento de procesos y la incorporación de técnicas de producción más

limpia. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el análisis de la producción científica en Colombia con

relación al resto del mundo en el periodo 2005-2019, empleando la base de datos Scopus filtrando con

las palabras clave “cut Flowers” “environmental” y “Colombia”. El análisis se realizó utilizando la

herramienta VOSviewer® que permite observar la tendencia temporal de las publicaciones y la co-

ocurrencia de las palabras clave que tienen énfasis en la sostenibilidad y la implementación de buenas

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the main exporter of flowers with 45% of world exports, followed by Colombia with 16%, and

finally Ecuador, Kenya and Belgium, which contribute 10, 8 and 3%, respectively, of total

exports of flowers in the world Manrique et al. (2014). This increase demands high production

requirements, but in relation to quality, demanded in different markets, involving plant

breeding material, soil and substrate management, fertilizer use, phytosanitary products,

harvesting, as well as post-harvest treatments (GlobalGAP, 2019).

In Colombia, the floriculture sector is one of the pillars of the economy, it is characterized by

its great contributions to the development of the national economy represented in its high level

in the GDP and a potential generator of employment (Gutiérrez and Almanza, 2016) the

departments of Antioquia and Cundinamarca are attributed to be the main producers of cut

represented 14%, while foliages occupied 27% (CCB, 2016). This sector shows a strengthening

process in the country, flower exports from Colombia reported US$75.5 million up to April

2018, with a volume of 14,415 t (Asocolflores, 2018) remaining as one of the first exporting

countries despite the global oversupply and currently occupying the second place.

In the case of floriculture, sustainability is based on the efficient use of resources, where the

concept of cleaner production (CP) is applicable. In every production system, waste is

generated as a product of the processes of each system. CP is defined as the continuous

application of preventive environmental strategies to processes, products and services in order

to increase efficiency and minimize risks to human health and the environment (UNEP, 2006).

Thus, the PML has a large number of benefits that contribute to the continuous improvement

of the company, it contributes to support in different areas either in terms of production

more sustainable operations by modifying current production and consumption patterns

(Minambiente, 2019).

Taking into account the environmental context, in recent years a growing awareness of

sustainable production schemes and certified systems in agriculture emerged, and numerous

scientific studies aimed at improving the environmental performance of these production

processes have been carried out Parrado et al. (2019), the Colombian association of flower

exporters, ASOCOLFORES, created the Florverde Sustainable Flowers certification program,

as a tool that promotes social responsibility and seeks the adoption of good agricultural

practices, minimization of the use of agrochemicals, protection of the fundamental rights of

workers, product quality and managerial responsibility (ICONTEC, 2016), in addition, the

At present, the floricultural sector has adopted several techniques of good practices and LMP

This review document aims to show the evolution of PML in the flower sector in the world and

in Colombia since 2005, in order to compare the studies carried out in Colombia with respect

to the world, taking into account its economic importance worldwide in the export of cut

flowers.

With the purpose of searching for reliable and relevant information about the figures of cut

flower productive systems that have implemented PML methodologies, examining the

indicators to quantitatively express the bibliographic characteristics of a set of scientific

publications, through the literature in order to study their nature and the course of their

scientific discipline specifying the source of information and the variables for the application

of the indicators (Arenas and Santillán, 2002; Camps, 2007; Rodriguez et al. , 2017).

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tool the VOSviewer ® software (www.vosviewer.com) (Zhang et al., 2019; Raparelli and

coincidence analysis was performed, using a repetition number equal to 8 for the first search

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sustainability (sustainability) is evidenced from 2011 and 2016, where the highest peak of

publications in the country is noted, followed by research items on risk assessment, protective

equipment and environmental monitoring, reaching the most recent topic of pesticide residues

monitoring.

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the creation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 (UN, 2019) and the Paris

Commission, 2019).

The terms that are related in the mapping contribute to the improvement of the requirements

for compliance with the standard requested by the sustainable agriculture network, initially

imposed by "Florverde Sustainable Flowers" and with approvals at the social level with

Rainforest Alliance and Global G.A.P. at the environmental level, among other seals of

international relevance. Currently in Colombia there are 2,215 ha certified, which translates

into about 40% of exports certified under this seal (Asocolflores, 2019).

In order to achieve sustainable agriculture, strategic alliances are built that allow the suitability

of the product, such as certifications or seals, for example the Standard with indicators for

Sustainable Agriculture - Sustainable Agriculture Network, which includes requirements such

as: social and environmental management system, ecosystem conservation, wildlife protection,

Colombia's low participation in scientific production in this area is observed, especially

considering that the flower industry is one of the most important sectors for the country's

economy, so it is speculated that innovations and improvements in the processes become trade

secrets of the companies that are dedicated to this purpose, Therefore, it is necessary to create

more effective information channels so that the medium and small companies in the sector, as

is the case of the producers of plants in matera, implement good practices in the production

process and manage to reach new markets (García, 2019, p. 9).

The bibliometric analysis allowed the comparison of Colombia's international scientific

production in relation to the world in terms of cleaner production in the floriculture sector based

on the Scopus database, taking into account that Colombia is the second largest exporter of cut

good agricultural practices such as environmental risk monitoring, use of personal protection

equipment and detection and mitigation of pesticide residues; however, there is a gap in

Contrary to expectations, the country's worldwide scientific publications have a low

participation margin with respect to the rest of the world, a maximum of three publications per

year, so greater involvement of academia is required, as well as greater financing of projects

by the government to allow participation and access to small and medium-sized producers to

improve processes and product quality.

Álvarez, C., Acevedo, C. Hernández, S. Piedrahita, J. (2007). Agro-environmental

Arenas, J., and Santillán, E. (2002) Bibliometrics, for what? Instituto de Investigaciones

ASOCOLFLORES (2019) Sustainability: What are we doing for our associates? Retrieved

Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá (2015) Agricultural and agroindustrial support program

Camps, D. (2007) General bibliometric study of collaboration and information consumption in

Cruz, J., and Javela, L. 2004. An approach to the dominant paradigm of social psychology

ICONTEC. (2016) FLORVERDE Sustainable Flowers Certification. Retrieved from

García, D. (2019) Case analysis: development of sustainable production programs for the