Avaliação e distribuição dos retornos sociais da adoção tecnológica na cultura do feijão Cauipi no nordeste

Abstract

The evaluation of technological change in agriculture has been limited primarily to obtaining the rates of return from investments made. Little has been accomplished in terms of analysis of the distribution of benefits of new technologies between the two segments of society - producers and consumers. The research studied the economic viability and distribution of social benefits resulting from technical change in production of cowpea in the Northeast. The basic data employed were derived from four sources: the State Commission for Agricultural Planning of Ceará - CEPA-CE, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - FIBGE, the Getulio Vargas Foundation - FGV and the Superintendency for the Development of the Northeast - SUDENE. In order to verify the economic viability of technological change, the research used the technique of partial budgeting and the benefit/cost ratio criterion. To qjuantify the social benefits, the concept of producer and consumer: surpluses was used. The change in net income was positive and the value of the benefit/cost ratio superior to that of the traditional technology. The social benefits attained the values of .38.6 and 30.4 million cruzados, respectively, for producers and consumers. The results permitted the conclusion that the new technology is economically viable and would generate positive benefits for society.