THE family farming corresponds to agricultural production carried out by small producers in which the agricultural system is maintained by the family nucleus and, at most, by a few salaried employees. This practice refers, therefore, to small rural properties, never larger than four fiscal modules.
Onefiscal module, in short, is a unit of land whose size is defined by the municipal government and varies between 5 and 100 hectares.
THE importance of family farming in Brazil it is in the large food production that this activity performs, since, in most cases, the farmers family members do not direct their goods to the foreign market, but for the immediate service of their production.
It cannot be generalized, but, in most cases, family producers do not use a large amount of pesticides, a fact that often associates family farming with agriculture organic. Another feature is that this segment of the agricultural economy it does not use a large amount of machinery, something more common in large properties, and therefore there is no replacement of the field worker by equipment.
In Brazil, only 20% of arable land belongs to small family producers, according to data from the Censo Agropecuário. Even so, family farming is responsible for more than 80% of the jobs generated in the countryside, which highlights the importance of this segment in generating work and income and also in containing the rural exodus.
Also according to the Agricultural Census, even with the small proportion of land in the country, family farming is responsible for:
- 87% of cassava production
- 70% of bean production
- 59% of pig farming
- 58% of milk production
- 50% of poultry farming
- 46% of corn production
- 38% of coffee production
- 34% of rice production
- 30% of cattle breeding
- 21% of wheat production
We can note that all the percentages presented above indicate a greater proportionality than the amount of land available for family farming, which denounces the need for greater democratization of rural properties in the country, generating greater space for small producers in the face of large and extensive latifundios, some of which are totally unproductive.
In summary, even with 1/5 (one fifth) of the agricultural areas in Brazil, family farming is responsible for about 1/3 (one third) of the total production. This proves the great productivity index of small producers in the country. The big issue is the lack of public incentives for this sector and the large land concentration existing in our country, factors that make it difficult to improve these numbers.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena