• Energy Research
• 2. Zero hunger close
• Portuguese close

This article reports the results of a research about the sustai-nability of extractive farmers in the Atlantic slopes of Rio Grande do Sul. The extractive economy at issue is related to a species usually known as leather fern (Rumohra adiantiformis (G.Forest.) Ching). It is estimated that 3,000 families in the region perform this non-regulated activity, whi-ch is their only source of income. The sustainability degree of farmers was calculated from information related to environmental, social and eco-nomic dimensions, and to productivity, stability, equity, resilience, and autonomy criteria. The analysis focused on the comparison among the In-dexes Related to Dimension (IRD), Criteria (IRC) and Sustainability (IRS) of each kind of production system. The results pointed to the existence of four kinds of production systems, and three of them were included in this research. The sustainability indexes showed that the production system type 3 was the most sustainable, followed by type 2 and, fi nally, type 1.

Neste trabalho avaliou-se o efeito da data de sementeira nas características de produção e composição em açúcares do sorgo sacarino, em função das quais se estimou o potencial de produção de bioetanol a partir desta cultura. O estudo foi conduzido durante dois anos (2005 e 2006), com a variedade de sorgo sacarino Madhura. A sementeira foi efectuada nas datas de 17 de maio, 31 de maio, 14 de junho e 28 de junho. Na sementeira efectuada a 17 de maio a produção de caules verdes e secos atingiu os valores de 66 e 13,8 t ha-1, respectivamente, as quais foram significativamente superiores às obtidas nas sementeiras de junho. A produção máxima de açúcar naquele mês foi de 4,6 t ha-1, o que corresponde à produção estimada de 2300 L ha-1 de bioetanol. Os resultados alcançados permitem concluir que as datas de sementeira de maio foram as que melhor potenciaram a aptidão do sorgo sacarino como cultura energética, para a produção de bioetanol. Revista de Ciências Agrárias, vol. 36 n.º 3 (2013)

This study analyzes the contribution of Pronaf (National Program for Strengthening of Family Farming) for the sustainable development of family farming in the Ceará state. For this purpose, primary data was obtained through the application of 15 questionnaires to beneficiaries and the equal number to non-beneficiaries in Baturite, Iguatu and Quixada counties, totaling 90 questionnaires. The sustainability index, employment and farm income per cultivated hectare were calculated to measure the impact of the program on the sustainable development, generation of income and employment on family farms of beneficiaries. Based on the descriptive analysis and the application of the t Student test, Chi-Square test and Mann-Whitney U test, comparisons between the selected groups of family farming were promoted. Results showed that the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries have a low sustainability level. Pronaf had a positive impact, but not significant on farm income generation, and positive effect on the creation of employment.

With the advances of climate change, it is expected harmful consequences to olive tree (Olea europaea L.). Therefore, it is necessary to develop cost-effective practices to reduce the vulnerability of olive crops to the adverse impacts of environmental stresses. Rainfed olive trees were sprayed with zeolites, natural crystalline aluminosilicates, and its effects on photosynthetic activity, phenolic composition, antioxidant activity, leaf minerais concentrations, plant growth, yield, and olive oil quality were assessed. Zeolites application enhanced photosynthetic activity, as well the concentrations of N, Mg, Cu, Zn and Mn in leaves, and changed the secondary metabolism, with decrease oftotal phenols, ortho-diphenols and total antioxidant activity, signs of lower oxidative stress. As consequence, zeolites boosted plant growth, crop yield, and size and weight of fruits. The foliar spray did not significantly affect the oil quality indices free acidity, peroxide value and Km and K270 coefficients. This study strongly suggests that folial' zeolites might be an effective strategy to mitigate the adverse environmental conditions. This research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financiai support to ClTAB (UIDB/04033/2020), and the Operational Group "Novas práticas em olivais de sequeiro: estratégias de mitigação e adaptação às alterações climáticas" I funded by PT2020 and EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development). Sandra Martins acknowledges the financiai support provided by the FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PD/BD/135327/2017), under the Doctoral programme "Agricultural Production Chains-from fork to farm". info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper aims to analyze whether Brazilian smallholder farmers who adopt irrigation methods would be more resilient to climate change when compared to smallholders producing rainfed crops. We developed a treatment effects model, based in the Propensity Score Matching technique, which can explain irrigation adoption and net revenues simultaneously. Temperature and precipitation projections for 2010-2099 were used considering different climate scenarios according to the 4th Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Results confirmed the efficiency of irrigation as an adaptive strategy. For all simulation scenarios, land values of irrigators are, on average, approximately twice the value of rainfed smallholders. It can be concluded that there is need of public policies focused on developing strategies to cope with global warming effects in the agricultural sector. Moreover, given the importance of irrigation adoption as an adaptive measure, it is needed to encourage the expansion of credit lines for irrigation investments, especially for less capitalized farmers.

This paper analyzes the role of agroforestry systems (AFS) as an adaptative measure to climate change in Brazil. A treatment-effects model (Propensity Score Matching) was developed. We identified the main determinants of the use of AFS and if the municipalities in which this technique is used are less vulnerable to climate change. The results showed that socioeconomic variables (land ownership, financing options, access to information and technical assistance) and agronomic variables (water resources availability and soil quality) influence the adoption of agroforestry systems in Brazilian municipalities. Climate conditions (temperature and precipitation) also play an important role in the use of these systems, which confirms their role as an adaptative strategy. It was also concluded that the AFS have the potential to improve the Brazilian agricultural performance due to the fact that the land value tends to be higher in municipalities where these systems are used. Thus, the AFS can make the agricultural sector less exposed to the negative effects of climate change in both the present and in future scenarios.

Objetivou-se analisar os efeitos das externalidades negativas no meio ambiente, abordar o Teorema de Coase no que se refere ao problema de definição dos direitos de propriedade. Adicionalmente, o trabalho explica a teoria econômica da externalidade e ilustra com exemplos. Descreve o comportamento econômico da externalidade na produção agropecuária e mostra de que modo ela cria ineficiência de mercado. Posteriormente, são avaliadas algumas medidas compensatórias para corrigir essas ineficiências. Nesse sentido, argumenta-se em favor da preservação ambiental como requisito básico da manutenção do desenvolvimento agrícola sustentado. Infere-se que modernização da agricultura brasileira teve importância fundamental para o crescimento econômico do País, apesar de que a prioridade dada ao aumento de produtividade pode ter motivado desequilíbrios no meio ambiente.----------------------The objective was to examine the effects of negative externalities in the environment, address the Coase theorem, as regards the problem of definition of property rights. Additionally, the work explains the economic theory of externalities and illustrated with examples. It describes the behavior of economic externalities in production agriculture and shows in what way it creates inefficiency of the market. Subsequently, are evaluated some compensatory measures to correct these inefficiencies. Therefore, it is argued in favor of environmental preservation as a basic requirement of maintaining the sustained agricultural development. It follows that modernization of Brazilian agriculture has fundamental importance for the economic growth of the country, despite the fact that the priority given to increasing productivity may have motivated imbalances in the environment.

This paper analyzes the production diversity among Brazilian agricultural family farms, using the DAP (declaration of Pronaf entitlement). The diversity is measured with a Simpson index, that goes from zero, for monocultures, to one. Production is considerably diversified in these types of farms. 57% of them have a diversification index above 0,35, although it has been noticed an increase in specialization in recent years. The share of monoculture farms rose from 25% in 2012 to 33% in 2014. The diversification index is set as the dependent variable on a Tobit regression with variables that are commonly used to explain the decision to diversify, such as regional dummies, farm size, number of farms, farmer's age, income from social benefits, education, gross production, or a dummy for access to technical assistance. All of these variables have significant effects on production diversity. The results suggest a strong regional bias in terms of diversification, as well as the importance of technical assistance and the availability of technologies in order to spur diversification among family farmers.

The major objective of this chapter is to analyse and briefly describe the evolution of Portuguese agriculture in the context of the European Agriculture. It is not a comprehensive analysis. It is a sketch of its major changes due to major aspects that had influenced in particular the Common Agricultural Policy, and how has evolved with respect to changes in CAP orientation and reforms. This analysis provides an example that might be useful to understand what can be done in the future both in Portugal as in other countries In some aspects figures about these countries including Poland will be presented to benchmark the analysis. Besides this introduction, the chapter has five additional sections. In the next section, background on the Portuguese agriculture and policy before accession is provided. Then, in the third, socio-economic structural characteristics of Portuguese agriculture and their evolution for the last four decades are briefly presented. In the fourth section analysis turns read and understand the evolution as major implications of changes in agricultural policy from CAP reforms. In the fifth section we turn to aspects that are the focus of post-2013 CAP reform and 14 relate them to Portuguese status. Finally, as a conclusion, we look for CAP and the sustainable orientations for Portuguese farmers.

O mundo vive um duplo desafio: de produzir alimentos e energia. O agronegócio está no centro desse dilema social, envolvendo tanto aspectos sobre volumes de produção e produtividade, quanto sobre a forma de produzi-los. Além disso, existe a discussão sobre a necessidade de se estabelecer um trade-off entre a produção de alimentos e energia. Quanto à forma de produção, o aspecto central é sobre como são utilizados os recursos existentes, principalmente, quando ocorre a degradação dos mesmos. Essas discussões indicam a necessidade de interpretar e propor soluções para esse duplo desafio numa perspectiva complexa. Nesse sentido, o presente ensaio sugere um framework para a interpretação de problemas complexos e para iniciativas com foco em sustentabilidade, que foi aplicado ao contexto do desafio de produzir alimentos, energia e biocombustíveis. A base teórica contemplou duas abordagens. A primeira abordagem foi a dos “Princípios da Complexidade”, que possibilitou apoiar uma sistemática para entender a realidade, distinguindo e reunindo as diversas realidades existentes, sem perder a noção global. A segunda abordagem foi a da Gestão Estratégica da Sustentabilidade, que possibilitou sistematizar etapas para o planejamento de ações mais sustentáveis para atuar nesse contexto. Por fim, foi possível inferir características desejáveis que outras abordagens poderiam contemplar, com vistas a indicar soluções mais adequadas a este contexto. ----- The world faces a double challenge: to produce food and energy. The agribusiness is at the center of this societal dilemma, involving aspects from the volumes of production and productivity up to the way to produce them. Furthermore, there is a discussion about the need for establishing a trade-off between production of food and energy. A central aspect regarding the way of production is on how existing resources to be used and, especially, when its degradation occurs. These discussions indicate the need to interpret and propose solutions to this dual challenge in a complex perspective. Accordingly, this paper proposes a framework for the interpretation of complex problems and initiatives focused on sustainability that was applied to the challenge context of producing food, energy and biofuels. The theoretical background comprises two approaches. The first approach was the “Principles of Complexity”, which enabled support a systematic approach to understanding the reality, distinguishing and combining the several existing realities without losing the global notion. The second approach was the Strategic Management of Sustainability, which enabled systematic steps for action planning more sustainable to operate in this context. Finally, it was possible to infer desirable characteristics that other approaches could include, in order to indicate the most appropriate solutions in this context.