IRRIGAÇÃO SUSTENTÁVEL NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DA AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR DE CERES-GO

Abstract

This study aimed to contribute to the understanding of irrigation as a relevant tool for the rural development of irrigating family farmers in Ceres Municipality, São Patricio Valley, in the central region of Goiás State (GO), Brazil, emphasizing the organizational, social, and economic indicators driven by this technology. In an initial analysis, it was sought to identify the participation of the municipality's organizational environments in the dissemination and strengthening of irrigation. To this end, people of organizations representing this productive category were interviewed. To complement the investigation, questionnaires were applied to twenty-three irrigating family farmers with qualitative and quantitative questions. The interviews were carried out in an objective way, explaining the actions and difficulties of the organizational and institutional environments in favor of irrigating family farming. The questionnaire data presented were partially analyzed in this first stage of the study by descriptive statistics. The results showed that public policies driven by institutions, collaborate for the permanence of this economic and social agent in the field. However, the representative organizations work individually, without synchronization with the needs of the category. The Goiano Federal Institute is on the opposite side of the other organizations studied, as it has shown itself to be a strong disseminator of irrigation technology locally. In the second stage, the analysis identified the best statistical method that presented a pattern of similarity among the socioeconomic variables listed, aiming to explain the irrigation impact on family farming in the municipality. Three profiles were obtained, high-tech, reasonably high-tech, and lowix tech. The high-tech group have a higher percentage of irrigated area, a higher education level, are between 45 and 53 years old, have greater investments in technology, and have improvement in life quality and satisfaction with the use of irrigation.