Índices emergéticos de sustentabilidade da produção leiteira em uma propriedade de base familiar em Palmeira, Paraná, Brasil

Abstract

Emergy sustainability indices of a family-based dairy farm in Palmeira, Paraná, BrazilIn the search for sustainability, parameters or indices are basic tools for monitoring the management of the processes. Therefore this study aimed to calculate emergy indices for assessing the sustainability of dairy production in a family-based farm. For this study we evaluated a rural property located in the city of Palmeira, Paraná, Brazil. Based on the data collected in the dairy farm, we calculated the net emergy yield ratio (EYR), emergy investment ratio (EIR), environmental load (ELR), emergy exchange ratio (EER), renewability (% R) , simple economic profitability (RES) and the sustainability index (SI). Based on the methods of emergy analysis, we found the following values: EYR = 1.33; EIR = 3.05; ELR = 3.15; EER = 1.71% R = 24, SI = 0.42, Re = 0.12. These indices show that although economically viable, RES = 0.12, in energy terms the property has a low sustainability index (SI) which implies the unsustainability of the production system. Na busca da sustentabilidade, metodologias para obtenção de parâmetros ou índices representativos seriam ferramentas básicas e essenciais para acompanhamento das gestões dos processos. Este trabalho teve por objetivo o cálculo de índices emergéticos para avaliação da sustentabilidade da produção leiteira. Para isso, o estudo foi realizado em uma propriedade rural, de base familiar, localizada no município de Palmeira, Paraná. A partir dos dados reais da propriedade, calculou-se a razão de rendimento emergético líquido (EYR), a razão de investimento de emergia (EIR), a carga ambiental (ELR), a razão de intercâmbio de emergia (EER), a renovabilidade (%R), a rentabilidade econômica simples (RES) e o índice de sustentabilidade (SI). Fundamentado nos métodos de análise emergética, foram encontrados os seguintes valores: EYR = 1,33; EIR = 3,05; ELR = 3,15; EER = 1,71; %R = 24; SI = 0,42; RES = 0,12. Estes índices demonstram que apesar de economicamente viável, RES = 0,12, em termos energéticos a propriedade apresenta-se com um baixo índice de sustentabilidade (SI).Palavras-chave: desenvolvimento sustentável, emergia, agricultura familiar. 333Índices emergéticos de sustentabilidade da produção leiteira em uma propriedade de base...Rev. Ceres, Viçosa, v. 60, n.3, p. 332-338, mai/jun, 2013

An Emergy-Based Approach to Assess and Valuate Ecosystem Services of Tropical Wetland Pastures in Brazil

“…EIR values obtained in this study were low when compared to the systems that are more intensive such as milk production farms, which usually have values between 3 and 5 [47]. Natural wetland pastures presented values next to 0.1.…”

Emergy efficiency of land-use systems in the brazilian semi-arid region

“…agricultural and pastoral activities, allows part of the demand for input from the economy, necessary for animal production, to be produced on the same property. The EIR found for the AGROF model is greater than the values seen for ecologically-based farming systems (ORTEGA et al, 2005;FRANCESCATTO et al, 2008) and for agroforestry systems (LEFROY et al, 2003), but is lower than that seen by Agostinho et al (2010) for organic orchards, annual crops and coffee plantations, and similar to that found by Eurich et al (2013) for a family-based dairy production system. The investment ratio (EIR) seen under the TRAD management was lower than that seen under AGROF management, since two of the three subsystems evaluated in TRAD are fallow and do not use services from the economy.…”

“…Similar results were found by Lu et al (2006) and Fonseca et al (2016) for areas of pasture in other regions (China an Portugual). Whereas Eurich et al (2013) found far lower values for bovine milk production under family farming in Brazil. Those authors point to the excessive use of external resources and the low use of renewable resources as factors contributing to the low sustainability indices of animal production.…”

“…The emergy sustainability indices seen for the AGROF and TRAD models show that they contribute to the sustainability of agricultural production, since they result in better performance, being superior to production systems that use holistic and conventional concepts (LU et al, 2006;ALFARO-ARGUELLO et al, 2010, EURICH et al, 2013. The best performance for the systems studied in the Brazilian semi-arid region may have occurred due to the increase in forest cover in the areas of agricultural production), as well as the integration between different agricultural activities, just as noted by Wu et al (2015).…”

“…the energy spent in the production process of any given product. Several authors have used emergy analysis to evaluate and compare different agricultural and/or livestock systems (CAVALETT et al, 2009;LU et al, 2009;AGOSTINHO et al, 2008;2010;ALFARO-ARGUELLO et al, 2010;EURICH et al, 2013;FONSECA et al, 2016). Some of these studies demonstrate the efficiency of agricultural properties that adopt concepts of agroecology in the transformation of energy, indicating a greater use of renewable resources, a coexistence with nature and economic profitability (ORTEGA et al, 2005;FRANCESCATTO et al, 2008;AGOSTINHO et al, 2010;WU et al, 2015).…”