Caracterização da cadeia produtiva da pecuária leiteira em Rondon do Pará, Pará, Brasil.

Abstract

The article describes the Dairy Farming Productive Chain in the Municipality of Rondon do Pará, located in the Southeastern part of the state of Pará. The data were obtained from interviews with important local players who work in this productive chain. The results indicate that, although the cattle herd size has remained relatively stable for the last few years, milk production had decreased, showing that farmers are concentrating on meat production, and that milk production is being substituted by other activities such as grain production and reforestation that has largely expanded in the region. Other phenomena that has also contributed to this context in the rural areas include population aging, labor shortage, poor road and energy infrastructure, as well as low technical assistance and rural extension. The persistence of production systems with poor technology results in both low animal production and in quality of products available for sale, which may maintain a declining tendency of production in the long term. A greater articulation among players in this local productive chain is fundamental to face current limitations for development of a more efficient and sustainable dairy farming.