Characterization of the food base for goats and sheep in Cariri in Paraíba, Brazil

Abstract

The objective was to characterize the food base for goats and sheep in Cariri in Paraíba. The survey was conducted in the microregions of Western and Eastern Cariri in the State of Paraíba, covering nine municipalities. The sample obtained was 125 producers, representing 5% of the population. The sampling method applied was the probabilistic, specifically the simple random. The data were tabulated in an electronic spreadsheet and analyzes of qualitative variables by frequency distribution and chi-square test were performed. The exploitation of animals for cutting and marketing goat milk are the main products from livestock practiced by the producers of Cariri in Paraíba. There is a predominance of goat farming (81.6%) in livestock production units. The majority of the producers supplement the herds on a massive scale (89.6%) and do not use forage conservation practices (56.8%). Native cacti such as mandacaru (Cereus jamaracu), xique-xique (Pilosocereus gounellei), facheiro (Pilosocereus pachycladus), in addition to forage palm (Opuntia sp. and Nopalea sp.) and buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) are widely used by sorghum was the most widely used and for conserving fodder, with an accentuated percentage of use of brackish water and artesian wells. Producers were dependent on the purchase of external inputs, mainly soybean meal, cotton cake and wheat bran, then needing technical assistance in order to promote food self-sufficiency for their herds, consolidate forage security options, reduce the use of external inputs, and thereby contribute to increasing the sustainability of animal production systems in semiarid region.