Avaliação econômica de técnicas alternativas de manejo de pastagens nativas, na região dos Inhamuns, Estado do Ceará

Abstract

The present study proposes to make a comparative economic estimate of the techniques of nativê pasturage improvement in order to verify the profitability of shcep, cattle and goat production or combinations of these under extensive management and based on experimental ãata from Tauá, a municipality in Ceará state. The above-mentioncd estimate is based on analysis oí profitability procecding from the use of a traditional production system - native pasturage - when compared with two technological alternatives. For the present research, experimental data were obtained from a research project entitled "Combined Caitle, Sheep and Goat Pasturage" undertaken by the Department of Zootechnology of the Agricultural Science Center of the Federal University of Ceára from July 1981 to June 1965. The methodology used in this research was that of random blocks, with three treatments and two replications. The sub-parccls. of each treatment were composeã of an | equivalent amount of animals, in accordance with the carrying capacity of the pastures, as determined by the | research, involving three head of cattle or its equivalent in shecp or goars. The treatments were distributed in: Treatment A or control, native vegetation without alteratión Treatment B or cut caatinga (native vegetation); and Treatment C or thinned caatinga. The method used to evaluate the techniques in the described study was that of partial budgeting. In general, one can conclude that the data collected regarding the animals weight increase were below expectations owing to the great: drought that ocurred during the experimental study, reflecting directly in the - productivity of the tested technologies. Therefore one cannot affirm anything about the.economical viability of the technologies. This suggests that the research had better be repeated in normal years and that the experiments of technologies considered economically viable should be tested over a longer period to permit one more rigorous verification of the selected combinations at an experimental level.