Potencial produtivo e econômico do açaí (Euterpe Oleracea Mart.) no estado do Pará

Abstract

Many efforts have been devoted to reversing land use change and land cover such as deforestation in the Amazon biome. The exploitation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is seen as a key mechanism for the conservation and sustainable development of tropical forests, as well as promoting the economy of the local population. However, it is not a consensus among researchers that the extraction of these products is allied in the protection of forests, given the lack of knowledge of the chain and the extraction model. Before proposing economic alternatives as a form of environmental conservation, estimates of productivity, transportation costs, beneficiation, market supply and demand, and product profitability are required. Thus, the general objective of this work was to study the socioeconomic and socioeconomic relations of one of the main NTFPs in the north of the country, the açaí, and to propose a spatially explicit model of its potential profitability. Because it is the largest national producer of açaí, the state of Pará was the cut used in this work. A bibliographical research was carried out on the açaí production chain, analyzes on market proximity, transport infrastructure, productivity, ecological characteristics through biophysical and bioclimatic constraints, beneficiation, supply, demand, planting techniques and açaí yields. The profitability model (ton / hectare) was constructed from the ecological model (favorability of occurrence of the species, density and productivity per palm) and economic model (prices, costs and incomes) of the açaí productive chain and executed on the open modeling platform source Dynamica EGO. In the first phase, a bibliographic review was carried out to identify and understand the functioning of the açaí production chain and its costs. In order to understand the structure of the açaí productive chain, interviews were carried out in the city of Santarém, Pará, in July, 2016. Residents of Santa Luzia and Santa Maria (Santarém) communities were interviewed, teachers of the Training and Training Center Agricola de Santarém, head of the Farmers 'and Farmers' Union of Santarém - STTR, residents of communities belonging to Flona Tapajós and merchants of açaí stores in the municipality of Óbidos. , The database for açaí production (tons) and the value of production (real) from 1994 to 2016 per municipality - totaling 144 municipalities in the state of Pará - was extracted from the collection of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistic. The model presented here encompasses two aspects: the first one is the simulation of spatial distribution and açaí productivity and the second one integrates sales prices, production costs and transportation, aiming to calculate the net income (production value - costs ) per hectare. It was verified that the state of Pará has a territory highly favorable to the occurrence of açaí, with a maximum potential productivity of 3.6 tons per hectare and a potential average yield of R $ 115.00 per hectare / year. Despite the high production of pulps and fruits in the state of Para, açaí, is not extracted foment to its productive potential. As a result, the fruit market has been changing its structure, with the expansion of açaizais planted and managed in floodplains and terra firme areas, being no longer an exclusive activity of extractivism, being the consortium of both systems a great economic and ecological. From the results stipulated recommendations in order to contribute to the valorization of native forests and the productive social inclusion of families and extractive communities.