Conditioners of family agricultural production in nordeste municipalities in the period 2006/2017

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the constraints on the production value of temporary tasks in family farming in the Nordeste, with a breakdown between the semi-arid and non-semi-arid regions in the years 2006 and 2017. The data used comes from the Agricultural Censuses of 2006 and 2017, made available by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). To achieve the proposed objective, the multiple regression methodology was used with panel data, where the production value of temporary family farming tasks was used as the dependent variable. Explanatory variables included employed personnel, harvested area, dummies related to the intensity of technical guidance, crop guidance, presence of cooperatives and location of municipalities in semi-arid regions or not. The random effects model was the one that best fit the data. The results for the Nordeste, in general, indicated that all coefficients were statistically significant at the 1% level, with the exception of the dummy referring to the presence of cooperatives, which did not present statistical significance. Not with regard to semi-arid and non-semi-arid regions, the variables that developed the most positively for the value of production were the harvested area and crop rotations. Furthermore, crop rotation had a more significant impact on the value of production than technical assistance, both in the Nordeste as a whole and in the semi-arid region. Finally, the non-semi-arid region stood out as the most suitable northeastern location for adding value to the production of temporary tasks within the typology considered. The findings provide support for the formulation of more effective public policies aimed at valuing family farming by encouraging productive diversification and expanding cultivated areas based on sustainable practices.

Keywords: family farming; regional development; nordeste municipalities; panel data.