Analysis of animal nutrition subsystems of milk production in rural producer association in Dracena (SP)

• Grant number: 15/03771-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Agrarian and Natural Resource Economics
• Principal Investigator: Elaine Mendonça Bernardes
• Grantee: Beatriz Queiróz dos Reis
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Questions about animal nutrition need to be treated in a systemic vision, as inserted in a context of sustainability in its widest sense. So, it is necessarily a multidisciplinary analysis. Literature on such subject lacks and an approach that includes other areas of knowledge is necessary. The importance of stocks of human capital and social capital for sustainability, for example, is highlighted by the social sciences, but the discussion about them is absent in works that propose technological change relating to animal nutrition. Since associativism is a dimension of social capital, the present study has chosen to examine the subsystems of animal nutrition adopted by producers entered into an association. A survey will be applied for producers for calculating technical coefficients of the subsystem of animal nutrition and data on education and participation of the Association will be included in the questionnaire. The specific objectives are: (a) to calculate technical coefficients of production of the producers in the Association; (b) to identify those interested in changing technical coefficients relating to the nutrition of herds that have, particularly through better utilization of pastures; (c) to describe their subsystems of nutrition; (d) to identify producers who consume more inputs acquired in the market; (e) to obtain data on training of manpower among the producers, and (f) to identify the producers that more participate in the Association and in other producer organizations. The work will contribute to the achievement of emergy indices which are being calculated in other project. The results will be disseminated, primarily in the "Congresso de iniciação científica da UNESP. Professionals of the rural extension services and producers will receive the results through folders, electronic media and meetings with farmers.