SUSTAINABILITY AND PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF DAIRY CATTLE IN THE STATE OF CEARÁ
Geoprocessing. Remote sensing. Zoning. Agriculture.
The impact of the agricultural sector on the Brazilian economy is indisputable, since it has been preventing negative results in the trade balance annually, due to the excellent performance in exports. Thus, aiming at the importance of dairy activity in the agricultural chain, especially in the Northeast of Brazil, the present study proposes an overview of cattle ranching in the state of Ceará regarding the sustainability involved in this activity within the state and its productive potential. This diagnosis was achieved through the construction of maps and indicators related to the environmental, socioeconomic and institutional dimensions. Environmental capacity was determined by climate, relief, vegetation index, land use and occupation, rainfall, among others. In view of the inherence of the economic and social dimensions, these were analyzed by the socioeconomic aspect, based on data indicating the capacity to generate income for municipalities and producers and the maintenance of men in the countryside. In turn, the institutional view was evaluated based on the actions taken by the state in order to encourage the activity, such as investments in Pronaf and availability of free Rural Technical Assistance. For this, GIS resources and mathematical models capable of generating maps that demonstrate these factors were used, as well as statistics, graphs and the verbal description of this mapping. Spatialization allowed a more dynamic and clear analysis of the nuances present between each region. The study showed a reduced fraction of areas with good aptitude for agriculture in the regions of the main dairy basins in the state. It is possible to observe a great inconsistency in the agriculture of Ceará in not recognizing in the localities within its territory the real aptitude and agrarian capacity. In some situations, it takes place where there is no sustainable relationship between the environment and the activity developed and regions with greater productive potential are ignored. In some municipalities, predominantly in those with poorly developed economies, milk is an important means of support for a large number of families living in rural areas. It is possible to observe the low availability of rural technical assistance in the state in view of the large number of active DAPs.