José Eustáquio Ribeiro Vieira Filho

1. The agricultural sector is central to economic development, food security, and environmental conservation, while also being one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This dua...

O presente trabalho buscou mensurar o indicador “Poupa-florestas”, que mede o impacto da mudança técnica da agropecuária sobre a preservação de florestas. Como resultado, identificou-se que os estados que tiveram uma grande parcela da área poupada de florestas, medida pelo indicador, apresentaram bom desempenho na balança comercial do agronegócio. Isso mostra que uma produção sustentável tem contribuído para o crescimento setorial. O Brasil poupou cerca de 103 milhões de hectares entre 2010 e 2020 e apresentou crescimento de 39% na balança comercial neste mesmo período. Portanto, um dos mecanismos mais eficazes para preservar o meio ambiente é o uso e a adoção de novas tecnologias. O aumento da produção por unidade de terra evita o desmatamento de novas áreas e contribui para a oferta de produtos essenciais à vida humana. Para isso, o desenvolvimento de políticas que aumentem a produtividade agropecuária e o investimento em pesquisa e desenvolvimento (P&D) têm efeitos positivos na produção a longo prazo, contribuindo para a preservação ambiental.

This study examines Brazil’s rural credit policy from four perspectives: productive sustainability, credit financing, regulatory impact, and strategic policies. It is an exploratory study based on qualitative analysis through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 14 rural credit managers from a Brazilian financial institution. The findings suggest that environmental policy had a particularly significant impact on small- and medium-sized producers, with consequences for their income and regional development. The study also demonstrates that deforestation is not a widespread practice among Brazilian rural producers. This study contributes to the literature by helping to understand the restriction of rural credit in areas with deforestation occurrences. The limitations of the study include those of being conducted solely with managers from a single financial institution. This study can help the federal government identify areas for improvement and policy adjustments, as well as financial institutions and managers to proactively act within their competencies and strategic goals in the execution of regulatory measures.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of agricultural modernization on the formal labour market. The data used were collected from the 2017 agricultural census and the Annual List of Social Information (RAIS). The method was that of ordinary regular criteria (OLS) and the instrumental variable model (VI). The results reveal that the increase in the number of machines and equipment and internet access are positively associated with the number of formal jobs and income in agriculture, as well as identifying a positive association between schooling and the average income of formal workers. The study of formal agricultural work is a subject that is rarely addressed in the literature and increasingly important in the dynamics of modern agriculture. The information provided here contributes to rethinking public policies that encourage increased income and employment in the agricultural sector. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o impacto da modernização agrícola no mercado de trabalho formal. Os dados utilizados foram coletados do censo agropecuário de 2017 e da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS). O método empregado foi o dos mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO) e o modelo de variáveis instrumentais (VI). Os resultados revelam que o aumento do número de máquinas e equipamentos e o acesso à internet estão positivamente associados ao número de empregos formais e ao rendimento na agricultura, assim como identificam uma associação positiva entre escolaridade e o rendimento médio dos trabalhadores formais. O estudo do trabalho formal agrícola é tema pouco tratado na literatura e cada vez mais importante na dinâmica da moderna agricultura. As informações aqui disponibilizadas contribuem para repensar políticas públicas que estimulem o aumento da renda e do emprego no setor agropecuário.

Family farming is relevant for the generation of employment and income in the countryside. The objective of this study is to analyze the challenges and potentialities in the socioeconomic dynamics of agriculture through the institutional food market in the area of operation of a family farming cooperative. A qualitative case study was carried out in the north of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, through eighteen in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method, considering five categories: economic, social, environmental, food security, and family succession. The results indicate that labor shortage and excessive bureaucracy are constant challenges. Furthermore, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of information, and lack of succession are among the main challenges of the institutional market from the perspective of the social agents participating in the research. On the other hand, the institutional commercialization channel, via the National School Feeding Program, is a consolidated public policy in the region, and one of the greatest benefits identified was the increase in the income of the cooperative members. Among the main potentialities of the institutional market from the agents’ point of view are income guarantee, institutional relations, support from cooperatives and technical assistance and rural extension, women’s involvement, and productive diversification. The results can support the implementation and strengthening of similar programs in other countries.

O cultivo de algodão arbóreo, que representava quase um quarto da produção nacional e ocupava metade da área colhida na década de 1970, foi praticamente extinto, enquanto a produção de algodão herbáceo cresceu e se consolidou a partir dos anos 2000. Este estudo avaliou a produtividade do algodão herbáceo de 1974 a 2019, período em que o país minimizou a dependência externa e se tornou referência no mercado internacional, respondendo por 15,6% das exportações mundiais. Procurou-se verificar uma possível quebra estrutural da produtividade. A praga do bicudo, a otimização dos recursos naturais e a melhoria tecnológica, como também a criação de organizações e associações de produtores, estimularam a reestruturação produtiva, em que as unidades produtoras foram realocadas no território. Os resultados indicaram que a produtividade apresentou mudança de intercepto e de tendência em 1999. A taxa de crescimento anual foi de 2,03% antes e 2,43% posteriormente. A mudança de nível ficou em 81,91%. As transformações institucionais e produtivas foram responsáveis pelos ganhos de produtividade, o que permitiu a expansão produtiva e contribuiu com um efeito poupa terra de 13,8 milhões de hectares no tempo.

Brazil is among the world’s leading food producers and exporters. The opportunity arose to examine and analyse dynamics of spatiotemporal of major agricultural crop and animal commodities within Brazil. An investigation was carried out on shifts in distribution density across Brazil’s different agricultural production regions between 1990 and 2015. This focused mainly on the midwest region, Brazil’s main agricultural frontier in the 21st century. This process enabled an analysis of the potential areas for maintenance and expansion of food supply chains and confirmed an increase in agricultural production in country’s central region. Geographical transformations were noted in the midwest region’s interior and its frontier with the Amazon biome. Over the study period, geographical midpoints of some key agricultural commodities (e.g., soybean, maize) and beef cattle production shifted towards the midwest’s interior, whereas milk, poultry, and pork production shifted southward. A vital issue in discussing contemporary rural areas, agricultural food production is tied to the quality of life, food supply, distribution, and consumption, as well as social, economic, and spatial inequalities. The development of science and technology applied to agriculture has implications regarding production growth and innovation targeted toward guaranteeing sustainable long-term production.

This study analyzes the municipal agriculture eco-efficiency in the Amazon biome and the influence of exogenous factors. We use a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) method with bootstrap. The results indicate that: (i) the density curve of the corrected eco-efficiency indices is statistically different from the deterministic score curves, suggesting the presence of bias in the latter; (ii) there is evidence of constant returns, demonstrating that small, medium and large municipalities can be equally eco-efficient; (iii) there are relevant eco-inefficient behaviors, showing that it is possible to increase the products (gross revenue and preserved area) and simultaneously reduce environmental damage (impact on biodiversity and greenhouse gas emission indices) with the same inputs, by replicating the best practices; and (iv) eco-efficiency scores are also substantially affected by exogenous factors. Based on the results, strategies can be defined by decision-makers to harmonize economic growth and environmental preservation; in addition, adaptive policies and actions can be adopted to optimize the sustainability of regional agriculture.