Impactos estruturais e socioeconômicos da criação de animais na agricultura familiar de Presidente Juscelino - MA

Abstract

Animal husbandry in family farming in Maranhão is a secondary activity in the agroecosystem. With this, it was aimed to perform the characterization of animal husbandry in family farming in Presidente Juscelino, Maranhão, in order to understand what impacts this activity causes on income and food security of rural families. The study was conducted in 11 production units in the municipality of Presidente Juscelino, Maranhão state, distributed in 9 communities. The study considered information about production characteristics (feed, reproductive and sanitary management), number of animals, breeding system, commercialization mode, and income obtained from the production of cattle, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, and chickens, as well as socioeconomic aspects of the producers through unstructured and semi-structured interviews and participant observation. 81.8% (9/11) of the producers have only completed elementary school. They include the raising of chickens, cattle, goats, pigs and horses. The breeding systems are semi-intensive. The sanitary measures employed are vaccination and vermifugation. Only natural mating was seen, and the animals feed on feed, pasture and alternative foods. The destination of the production is for selfconsumption or local marketing; the income generated by 72.7% of the farmers is up to two minimum wages. 90.9% have INSS benefits. It is concluded that family farming in Presidente Juscelino, Maranhão, is essentially a subsistence activity. Animal husbandry allows access to safe food and a more complete diet for those who produce them.