Family farming in the Erechim Microregion (RS): a characterization based on the 2017 agricultural census

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present the socioeconomic profile of family farming in the Erechim Microregion in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The work is exploratory in nature, with a qualitative-quantitative bias that was supported by bibliographical and documentary research and by information from IBGE's 2017 Agricultural Census database. The study shows that family farming is the most numerically significant segment in the rural environment of the Microregion, demonstrating the predominance of labor with kinship ties working in family production units. However, it was possible to see that family farmers have low levels of schooling and advanced ages, besides a small number of young people who are responsible for the management of agricultural establishments. However, despite these limitations, this category plays a very important role in agri-food production and has an impact on the socioeconomic reproduction of family farming in this Microregion. Finally, despite the representativeness of this social category, it is necessary to plan a new generation of public policies to provide structural conditions for families and young people to remain in rural areas.