User Guide

Instructions on how to use the tool and descriptions of the categories and data it contains.

To obtain agricultural statistics, choose the desired search level under the “Search” tab, or directly by clicking the boxes under the tool title on the “Home” page. The available search levels are: island level (Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra), agricultural region, municipality and neighborhood.

When you click on a search level, a variety of filters will appear on the left side of the page that you can use to refine the data. Once you have selected the desired filters, you will see the results of your search in “Map” format. The default option displays the first 500 data, but it is possible to change the number of data entries in the “Showing Entries” window, located in the upper right of the “Table” option. The map will be updated automatically when the selection is made in the “Table” format and will show the new number of data chosen.

To start a new search, press the “Clear Filters” button at the bottom of the filter list. The button will remove all filters. You can also download the data found by clicking on the “Download data” button, located below the filter options.

The “Search” page displays search results over a map of Puerto Rico. Clicking on a crop icon within the map causes an information window to appear containing neighborhood-level statistics on crop production. This window displays the year the crop was produced, the production area in cuerdas and hectares, and the total production of that crop in that particular neighborhood for a specified year.

The “Table” format includes more specific information on neighborhood-level crop production than the “Map” view. By default, the results from the search are first displayed geographically in the “Map” view format. To switch the display format to “Table” view to obtain more information, use the toggle at the top center of the “Search” page.

The “Table” format includes the following information: crop icon, crop, production year, agricultural region, municipality, neighborhood, scientific name, production unit, production amount for the year, production in pounds, planted area in cuerdas, planted area in hectares, harvested area in cuerdas, harvested area in hectares, and a link to the USDA plant database page with additional information on the crop.  The default option displays the first 500 data, but it is possible to change the number of data shown in the “Showing Entries” window located at the top right of the table. By using this function, you can see the changes reflected in both “Table” and “Map” formats.

After selecting the “Table” format, the results from your search are downloadable in CSV or Excel format. To download your results, click the “Export” button in the upper left corner of the results table, and select the desired format (CSV or Excel). Note that the number of data entries that will appear in the downloaded file are the same as the number of entries being viewed in the table. By default, this number will be 500. To adjust the number of data entries, use the “Showing Entries” option on the upper right of the page. In the “Map” view you can also download the data by clicking on the “Download data” button located below the filter options. This spatial data will download to a compressed zip folder containing a kml file. 

The Agricultural Statistics tool has up to four filters that can be used to refine your search. The filters allow you to choose year and crop, as well as agricultural region, municipality, and neighborhood for more specific searches. Available filter options depend on the initial search level used.

Once you have selected the desired filters, you will see the results of your search in the “Map” or “Table” format. To start a new search, press the “Clear Filters” button at the bottom of the filter list. Below is a brief description of each filter and how it can be used to obtain the desired agricultural statistics.

The “Crop” category allows you to filter by one or more crops. Searching by crops will provide a map showing the neighborhoods and municipalities where a crop is produced in Puerto Rico for the selected year. By default, only the first 500 entries will appear. In some cases when your search yields over 500 entry results, you will not see all the entries for your selection until you select “all” in the “Showing Entries” feature in the table view.  Each icon that appears on the map represents a summary of production at the neighborhood level. When you click on the icon of a crop within the map, an information window will appear indicating the neighborhood, municipality, year of production, area in cuerdas and total crop production in that particular neighborhood for that year.

Some of the crop production methods are:

Greenhouse:  Complex of agronomic facilities in which agricultural products are cultivated until reaching their optimal stage for distribution and sale.

In banks: Agronomic facility in the form of a “bank” in which agricultural products are cultivated instead of planting in the ground.

Hydroponic: Cultivation method in which water and chemical components necessary to plant growth are used instead of agricultural soils.

Experimental: Refers to crops planted for scientific research purposes.

Shade-grown: Coffee cultivation method using agroforestry, a practice in which crops are grown beneath the shade of two or more types of trees.

Sungrown: Coffee cultivation method without the use of agroforestry, a practice in which crops are grown beneath the shade of two or more types of trees.  

Organic: Cultivation methods avoiding the use of agrochemicals (e.g., fertilizers or insecticides made from petroleum)

A search by crop or crops yields a map displaying the neighborhoods and municipalities in which a crop was grown across Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2016. Clicking on a crop icon within the map causes an information window to appear containing the following neighborhood-level summary: year of crop production, production area in cuerdas and hectares, and the total production of the crop in that particular neighborhood for that year. The search can be refined by year, agricultural region, municipality, or neighborhood using the filter options below the crop search bar.. For example, to obtain statistics on shade-grown coffee production in 2016 in the agricultural region of Lares, first select “shade-grown coffee” in the crop search bar. Then, select “2016” in the year search bar. Finally, select “Lares region” in the Agricultural region search bar. The resulting map will show the locations of all the neighborhoods producing shade coffee in the agricultural region of Lares in 2016, along with a table of production statistics based on data compiled by the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture.

Some of the crop production methods are:

Greenhouse:  Complex of agronomic facilities in which agricultural products are cultivated until reaching their optimal stage for distribution and sale.

In banks: Agronomic facility in the form of a “bank” in which agricultural products are cultivated instead of planting in the ground.

Hydroponic: Cultivation method in which water and chemical components necessary to plant growth are used instead of agricultural soils.

Experimental: Refers to crops planted for scientific research purposes.

Shade-grown: Coffee cultivation method using agroforestry, a practice in which crops are grown beneath the shade of two or more types of trees.

Sungrown: Coffee cultivation method without the use of agroforestry, a practice in which crops are grown beneath the shade of two or more types of trees.  

Organic: Cultivation methods avoiding the use of agrochemicals (e.g., fertilizers or insecticides made from petroleum)

Puerto Rico contains eight agricultural regions (Agricultural Super Regions). If you would like to search for statistics by agricultural region, click on the “Agricultural Region” menu and make your selection(s). You can select more than one region and refine your search by applying other filters.

The Agricultural Super Regions were created in 2017 by the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture (PRDA) to bring assistance programs and services to farmers registered with the PRDA. In the Agricultural Super Regions, all PRDA programs such as the Administration for the Development of Agricultural Enterprises (ADEA), Land Authority, and Innovation Fund for Agricultural Development of Puerto Rico (IFAD), among others, are represented. The Agricultural Super Regions consist of: Arecibo, Caguas, Lares, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Ponce, San Germán and Utuado. In the map view, the agricultural regions can be noted with darker outlines that group the municipalities in each agricultural region. 

Puerto Rico is divided into 78 municipalities that function as secondary official administrative units. For purposes of the United States Census, municipalities are equivalent to counties.

If you are interested in obtaining statistics on the agricultural production of a particular municipality, you can search for all agricultural production by selecting one or more municipalities at the “municipality” search level, or you can refine your search by combining your selection with other filters. When crop icons are clicked on the “Map” view, the information windows will display a summary of neighborhood-level production within the selected municipalities.

In Puerto Rico, the term “neighborhood” (barrio) refers to a subsection of a municipality and is the lowest-ranking official administrative unit. Neighborhoods may or may not be subdivided into sectors, communities, urbanizations, or combinations of these.

You can search the agricultural production of one or more neighborhoods at the “neighborhood” search level. First, you will must select the municipality of interest. Then, the neighborhoods of that municipality will appear in the “neighborhood” selection search window. Your neighborhood selection(s) can be combined with other filters. The information windows shown by clicking on crop icons in the “Map” view are a summary of agricultural production within that neighborhood.

The Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture was established by Article IV, Section 6 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and reorganized through the Reorganization Plan of the Department of Agriculture of 2010. Its mission is to facilitate and promote the development of agricultural enterprises, commercial fishing and agriculture; to increase its competitive capacity and its contribution to the economy; replace imports with high-quality products; and generate jobs.

The Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico has an Office of Agricultural Statistics. The mission of the Office of Agricultural Statistics is to carry out surveys among farmers, agro-entrepreneurs, processors, and wholesalers to measure the agricultural activity of Puerto Rico.

The International Institute of Tropical Forestry, headquartered in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, is a research and technology transfer institute that is dedicated to advancing tropical forestry on insular, national, and international levels, and developing and exchanging knowledge critical to sustaining benefits of tropical forests and grasslands. The Institute has been in continuous operation since its inception as the Tropical Forest Experiment Station in 1939.

All research at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) is done in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico. This work is supported by the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub and the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture. The agricultural data was collected by the Agricultural Statistics Office of the Department of Agriculture. The consolidation of the database, the creation of maps and the design of the geospatial analysis page were carried out in the USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Laboratory in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the company Think A Map. The data used for this publication are summarized by neighborhood to prevent any association with individual producers. Unless otherwise stated, all data and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. However, neither the author, nor any part of the federal government can assure the reliability or suitability of these data for a particular purpose. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed for a user’s application of these data or related materials. This map, data, or related materials may be updated without notification.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program

Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at https://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Maria José  Andrade, Mariano Argüelles, Nora Álvarez-Berríos, Johan Crespo, Víctor Cuadrado, Ramón Borges, Christina De Jesús Villanueva, Tania Díaz Camacho, Edgardo González, William A. Gould, Kristopher Harmon, Eva Holupchinski, Richard Meléndez, Monique Picón, Gary Potts, Edward Quigley, Olga Ramos, Andrea Rivera, Luis Rodríguez, Rey Rodríguez, Javier Rosario and Sandra Soto-Bayó.