PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVE DIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE IN MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS

Elton De Oliveira,Renato Linhares De Assis,João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares De Mello,Lidia Angulo Meza,Adriana Maria De Aquino

doi:10.56369/tsaes.3444

Elton De Oliveira, Renato Linhares De Assis + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.56369/tsaes.3444

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Abstract

Background: The mountainous regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro, due to the way they were colonized, their land structures, and their technical, cultural and climatic conditions, offer unique conditions, not only for the formation of unique environments and characteristic products, but also for the development productive diversity that can provide greater efficiency and agricultural stability. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the performance of the agricultural sector of eighty-five municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with regard to three productive variables: cultivated area in hectares, number of different crops produced, and total revenue in Brazilian Reais, for the calendar year 2015. Methodology: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was chosen for this analysis, because it allows the computation from these input (cultivated area) and output (number of crops and revenue) variables of an efficiency index for each municipality. Results: A dispersion plot of efficiency against the altitude of the administrative seat of the municipalities revealed that 68.23 % of the municipalities lay in the two quadrants corresponding to low altitude, low efficiency and high altitude, high efficiency, indicating a positive correlation of efficiency with altitude. Of the twelve efficient municipalities, eleven practice agriculture in mountain environments, at altitudes ranging from 355 to 871 m. Implications. Of the twelve efficient municipalities, eleven practice agriculture in mountain environments at altitudes ranging from 355 to 871 m. Conclusions: These results support the supposition that greater agrobiodiversity, as found in the mountainous regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro, contributes to greater agricultural efficiency.

Highlights

In the calendar year 2015, agricultural production in the state of Rio de Janeiro generated revenues of R$ 1.83 billion, from a cultivated area of 146.4 thousand hectares (EMATER-RIO, 2015)
The strategic importance of the management of agrobiodiversity for local and traditional communities has been recognized by EMBRAPA, who in 2008 produced a book (EMBRAPA, 2008) addressing the attainment of sustainable agriculture through public support of family farming
The application of the one input and two outputs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) analysis, with BCC variable returns-to-scale, of the agricultural production of the 85 municipalities identified thirteen Decision Making Units (DMUs) with efficiency indices equal to one, the criterion to be classified as efficient. It is an inherent property of the BCC approach (Cooper et al, 2007), that the DMU with the least value of a determined input will always be efficient, and this DMU is called efficient by default

Summary

Introduction

In the calendar year 2015, agricultural production in the state of Rio de Janeiro generated revenues of R$ 1.83 billion, from a cultivated area of 146.4 thousand hectares (EMATER-RIO, 2015). Sixty-seven distinct crops were produced across a total of eightyfive agriculturally active municipalities. 89), the creation of mechanisms and strategies which lead to diversification of labour and income is the means to stimulating system resilience in the face of the vulnerabilities of the environment within which productive agriculture is conducted. Extending this reasoning, the greater the diversification of a productive unit, be it an agricultural establishment, region or territory, the greater its chances and opportunities for stability when confronted by the crises which are inherent to the agribusiness sector. One of the central themes emerging from this detailed reflection was the impacts of the legal system on the diversity of plants and crops cultivated, and the resulting agricultural ecosystems

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