Condições de criação do suíno baixadeiro, animal localmente adaptado à microrregião da Baixada Maranhense

Abstract

The Baixada Maranhense is a micro-region with unique geographical and biological characteristics, standing out in the state of Maranhão for its seasonally flooded fields, and for the presence of animals adapted to this environment. The pig known as “lowland”, is endowed with great rusticity and adaptability to the conditions in which it is disposed, making it an animal of easy handling, thus enabling its creation in an ultra-extensive way. In Baixada, the creation of pigs is very present, serving as a source of income for many families, in addition to serving, in some cases, only food for the breeders themselves and their families. In view of this, the present study aimed to carry out a socioeconomic survey of swine farming in two municipalities in the Baixada, São Bento and Bequimão, in order to observe more deeply how the creation of this animal resource is carried out, taking into account factors such as sanitary management and feed these animals, for example. During the development of the research, visits were made to pig breeding retreats in the aforementioned municipalities, in order to observe the reality surrounding the pig breeding activity. During the visits, a semiopen questionnaire was applied, with the intention of evaluating how the swine activity is carried out in the municipalities. There was a predominance of traditional, low-tech pig farming, basically endowed with the application of common sense knowledge on how to carry out animal husbandry. Therefore, the pig farming in the municipalities of São Bento and Bequimão have several characteristics in common, each with its own particularities, but which configure an extractive activity that is, for the most part, subsistence