Analysis of the dairy livestock activity for local development in the view of the producers of Santa Luzia, Paraíba

Abstract

Dairy farming is one of the main agricultural branches in the country, present in 98% of Brazilian municipalities, bringing a considerable social contribution to local development. Responsible for supplying the domestic market, in addition to the great importance played historically in the country together with beef cattle and agriculture, they helped in the settlement in the interior of the Northeast. Thus, the main objective of this research was to analyze the light of the process of multilevel integration between different scales of production, as well as the importance of dairy cattle for the organization of the agrarian space in the Municipality of Santa Luzia-PB. As it is located in the semi-arid region, the municipality has major limitations with regard to agricultural activities, due to irregularities in rainfall associated with high temperatures during the day, making milk production in this location an additional challenge. The research had a qualitative and quantitative character, with the application of a questionnaire with 15 producers. Constellation Analysis was chosen due to its nature as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary technical research, which interconnects different perceptions and is being, the majority were. The results showed a low level of education of the producers, scarce technical assistance and veterinary monitoring of the herd, which reflect on the low productive level. The lack of incentives and public policies aimed at development associated with the low level of social organization among producers contribute to the weakening of the most sensitive link in the production chain.