Livestock production and environmental challenges: family farming in Vale do Taquari, RS

Abstract

The region of Taquari Valley (VT) shows a similar condition regarding to Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in relation to the achieved economic development, which is considered a “good standard” state compared to other regions of the country. Despite the similar patterns, the trajectory followed by the region under study sometimes followed the State’s trajectory, in other moments it was faster and even, sometimes it did not follow the trend. Historically, primary production has a meaningful importance in the regional economy and is usually organized in an integrated system with the food industry. This work analyzes the historical evolution of livestock production that sustains the productive matrix in Vale do Taquari, RS, developed especially by family farming, and the environmental challenges arising from the activity. The research is characterized as quantitative, and it was based on secondary data from the Agricultural Census released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The results of the research show that although there has been a significant increase in the cattle activity, the intra-regional dynamics and the evolution by productive species occurred differently: in the case of cattle and milk production the evolution was balanced among cities, on the other hand, in the case of poultry and swine, some cities reduced their participation, whereas in others there was a significant increase in the activity. However, the intensification of activities in certain municipalities has also imposed environmental challenges.