Socioeconomic diagnosis of milk production in three agrarian reform settlements in the semiarid of Sergipe State

Abstract

The aimed this research was a socioeconomic survey of dairy farms, from November 2007 to January 2008, in agrarian reform settlements Paulo Freire, Cachoeirinha e Cajueiro, located respectively in municipalities Porto da Folha, Gararu e Poço Redondo in the semiarid of Sergipe State. Data were obtained through questionnaires to producers, containing questions that dealt from the social to the economic factor. Was observed a high rate of illiteracy among producers (varying from 28.5 to 49%), which prejudice the production system due to their incapacity to understand and apply new technologies. The herd was characterized by crossbred animals derived from crosses between Holstein and Gir or Guzera and small production daily (5.4 to 6.5 liters/cow), with reduction in profitability and commitment of family lace. It was perceived unfavorable relationship between the amount received per liter of milk - varying from R$ 0.52 to R$ 0.54, between the settlements - and the average cost of producing a liter of milk, varying from R$ 1.19 to R$ 1.44. Moreover, the difficulty of access to technology and technical assistance are problems found in 23.8, 90 and 84.8%, respectively, in the settlements Paulo Freire, Cachoeirinha and Cajueiro. Therefore, is necessary the fomentation of research and development of alternatives to improve the productivity and sustainability of producers with these breeding conditions and the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) invests mainly technical assistance and education to the settlers to that be promoted an acceleration and improvement in its development.