Conditions of technological absorption in cocoa production units of the south of Bahia

Abstract

Cocoa production in the south of Bahia represents a segment and region that does not benefit from the national agricultural technological development and, consequently, coexists with poverty and low productivity due to the limited technological input applied to the crop. This configuration implies the need for technological absorption in this agricultural environment, which requires a thorough diagnosis and analysis of the conditions that interfere in this process. Therefore, the present study proposed the identification and construction of an analytical-conceptual model of the factors that interfere in the technological absorption of cocoa producers in the south of Bahia. The model was applied to the producers in the form of a quantitative survey in order to identify their perceptions regarding the constraints, followed by a statistical verification of possible interferences of location and the size of the production units on these perceptions. The results indicated that the investigated producers, although favorable to technological absorption, perceived the existence of restrictive constraints on technological absorption. Moreover, for some constraints, the location and size of the production units influenced the producers' perceptions. Finally, the study contributes to the research of factors conditioning the technological absorption in agricultural segments and regions at the margin of technological development and serves as a methodological basis for studies in other agricultural environments with similar technological characteristics.Keywords: agriculture; public policies; regional development.TRINDADE, Lucas Xavier; PEREIRA, João Pedro de Castro Nunes. Condicionantes à absorção tecnológica em unidades agrícolas de produção de cacau do sul da Bahia. Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura, v. 27, n. 3, p. 617-644, out. 2019.Submitted in May 2019.Accepted in August 2019.