Experiência associativa para aquisição e uso de tanques de expansão e resfriamento de leite

Abstract

The deregulation of the sector occurred in the early 1990 and the already Consolidated internationalization of markets have presented a series of injunctions to the productive chain of milk, in particular in the primary production, imposing to the organizations the need for a wide reformulation of their structures and strategies in order that such organisms keep themselves both acting and competitive. This study was intended to expose the experiences of associative organizations of dairy farmers of six rural communities of the state of Minas Gerais, which have been adopting the system of purchasing and use of communitarian milk expanding and cooling tanks. Specifically, it was aimed to report the profile of the communities and identify the motives which have led the farmers to unite. The methodology consisted in utilizing qualitative and quantitative research methods by means of an exploratory study, a descriptive approach and a comparative multicase study. For verification of the relationships among the study variables, statistical analyses of frequency and discriminator were utilized. It was found that that 82% of the farmers interviewed stated that the need for installation of the communitarian tank was the chief motive for them to associate, which is highly justifiable, given the transformations which have been occurring in that productive chain. Out of the motivational variables indicative of the associative behavior which most have discriminated the communities stand out the demand of the dairy plant, the power of bargain in milk price and the power in the purchase of inputs, the reduction of the cost of transportation and the commitment of the MAPA guidelines. The results showed that the associative experiences of the dairy farmers in the purchasing ofexpanding and cooling tanks vary according to the participation of the local industry - whether a dairy plant whether an agricultural cooperative - and of the public bureaus, as city halls. In short, the communitarian works have improved the dairy farmers' conditions of living, providing a better performance oftheir productions, integrating them to market economics and increasing their power of contraposition to the strengths which push them towards a growing marginalization.