Integrated Program to Improve Dairy Production and Milk Quality for the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 99/00911-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2000
• End date: March 31, 2004
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Fernando Machado
• Grantee: Paulo Fernando Machado
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Vera Lúcia Cardoso

Abstract

The structure of milk production and the prevailing socioeconomic conditions in Brazil, in combination with the needs of facing the competition from Mercosul, are imposing dairy farmers to look for alternatives to improve the economic efficiency of milk production. The southeast area of Brazil is responsible for about 50% of milk production in the country. However, production costs are higher than those of other Brazilian regions or even of international competitors. Among the production costs, the main components are feeding and labor, representing, on average, 50% and 25% of the total casts, respectively. The reduction of these costs can be achieved by the optimization of the use of suitable diets, human resources and through the correct identification and disposal (or treatment, when indicated) of low production animals resulting from health problems, genetic or management reasons. To accomplish these aims, it is necessary to have reliable and updated data and the transformation of this data into useful information to be used in farm decision making processes. lt is not easy to have available reliable data. Data recording demands trained lab our and appropriate schemes. Besides, the storage and processing of information, require qualified personnel, appropriate infra-structure and softwares, so that information produced can be quickly transmitted and presented in such a format that the farmer can easily understand and use to help him in management decisions. These actions represent relatively high costs and still show some dificultes to be carried out, making this type of work restricted to an insignificant number of producers of specialized breeds. Therefore, the objectives of this work, are to study strategies of data collection of dairy farms and to implement a centralized database to storage, retrieve and process the data, at lower costs, so that it can be transformed into information produced with scientific criteria, to be used in the decision making processes of management, which can result in the reduction of costs and in the increase in the economic efficiency milk production. From the data stored during the period of data collecting, six multidisciplinary subprojects will be conducted, in the areas of nutrition, breeding and genetics, health and total quality, to provide the dairy industry with information to be used to improve milk production efficiency in São Paulo State. The results obtained will constitute a basis for the implementation of a program of total quality for dairy farms, taking into account the optimization of the use of human resources, feed supplies, health and genetic resources. (AU)