Avaliação socioeconômica e histórica de plantios comerciais de dendezeiros híbridos interespecíficos [Elaeis guineensis Jacq. X Elaeis oleifera (Kunth) Cortés] da mesorregião do nordeste paraense

Abstract

This study is part of a larger project bein conducted in partnership with Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research - EMBRAPA Eastern Amazon, which focus the promotion of the sustainability of palm oil production systems in small rural property. The work aims to characterize the socioeconomic profile of producers and the production system of the first crops on a commercial scale, hybrid oil palm interspecific between caiaué cultivars (Elaeis oleifera (Kunth) Cortés) and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in Mesoregion Northeast Paraense, the level of small farms. It is the first study to show the productive architecture of this system, which is a pioneer in the Amazon on a commercial scale and contributes significantly to local development. This cultivar was developed by EMBRAPA Western Amazon in the 1980s as a solution to the economic sustainability of the crop in areas hit by the fatal yellowing of unknown etiology disease, responsible for the death of entire crops in producing countries. The data was collected through interviews and questionnaires and socioeconomic and technological issues were addressed. Of the 26 existing producers of oil palm interspecific hybrids in the study area, seventeen were interviewed, the data being tabulated and systematized in tables and graphs. The results show that, despite its similarities with guineensis oil palm production system, the interspecific hybrid production system has different technologies, some of them generated by research institutions and already absorbed by producers. Research has identified that the palm culture in the area under study, despite having a deployed and developed industrial structure does not have a high degree of specialization, since most manufacturers have reasonable level of technology. The results showed also that assisted pollination and fertilization are essential to the productivity of culture and that in the absence of these practices, this cultivar presents unproductive, causing financial losses to their producers. It also showed that the absence of public policies to small producers, especially in regard to access to credit and funding hamper the maintenance and expansion of the culture in the region.