The adoption of integrated systems in Brazil´s agriculture

Abstract:

This paper assesses the importance of some variables that influence the adoption of integrated production systems, especially the Agroforestry Systems (SAFs), into the Brazilian farms. In order to achieve this purpose, an aggregated panel data at the municipal level and spatial econometric models are used. Dataset were collected from Brazil´s Agricultural Censuses for the years 2006 and 2017. Results from the SARAR model indicate that the size of the cattle herd in each municipality is negatively linked with the adoption of SAFs. On the other hand, SAFs adoption is positively linked with the increase of rural credit loans, the association of the farmers into cooperatives or class entities, the greater presence of farms focused on forestry economic activity, the greater presence of farmers older than 45 years, the greater presence of areas with degraded pastures, greater presence of farmers with stable land tenure and the greater frequency of farms that adopted good agricultural practices. Additionally, there were greater direct effects than the indirect ones in the spatial spillovers (among municipalities) of the aforementioned explanatory variables.

Keywords:
agroforestry systems; agriculture; spatial econometrics