59. The diversity of the technological systems used in food production is the outcome of a number of structural conditions inherited from the past, such as the concentration of income and wealth, the place of the Nicaraguan economy in the international market and the way in which foreign capital penetrates the national economy. These conditions created a fairly polarized technological structure, in which the great majority of agricultural producers were using traditional, low capital-intensive methods. On the other hand, there is a small group of production categories that use modern technologies. 60. This same technological polarization is also found in the food-processing industry, where on the one hand there is a sector composed of thousands of small units processing flour and maize or relatively simple products, and onE/1986/3/Add.l5 page 13 the other, a group of 100 medium-sized and large enterprises that are much more capital-intensive. This latter sector depends exclusively on foreign machinery and equipment and a generally out-dated technology, including what is called "obsolete" technology in the Western economies. 61. At the industrialization stage, for products such as oil and sugar the technological levels are high, in keeping with their part in the agricultural export sub-systems. The dairy industries also have capital-intensive technological systems. 62. MIDINRA has identified four levels for defining agricultural production technology: (a) Tl; The most traditional technology, characterized by clearing the land by hand, the use of unimproved seeds and hand-sowing on low-quality and generally very hilly land; (b) T2: Intermediate technology, which also uses simple practices but features animal traction and a few inputs such as fertilizers, insecticides and/or improved seeds. Generally the crops are on better land; (c) T3: This is for improved dry farming methods, using machinery, agro-chemicals and improved seeds intensively on high-quality land; (d) T4: The modern technologies mentioned in (c) above, are combined with irrigation technologies.
**Analysis**
The text discusses the technological systems used in food production, processing, and industrialization in Nicaragua, highlighting the polarization between traditional and modern technologies. The text also mentions the role of foreign capital and international markets in shaping the country's economy. These themes suggest that the text is closely related to economic development, agriculture, and industry.

**Category**
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Industry, Economic development