Percepção dos produtores do sul de Minas Gerais sobre a importância e formas de controle do carrapato Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini, 1887)

Abstract

Aiming to evaluate the perception and attitude of producers, interviews were conducted in 106 properties, chosen randomly in 17 counties in southern Minas Gerais state. The forms used were adapted from Rocha et.al. (2006) and validated by research conducted and pre-testing in the target population. Most respondents have secondary education and property as the sole source of income. The most commonly used criterion to determine the interval between applications is the use of acaricides regular intervals (53.8%). The most used chemical bases were associated with cypermethrin chlorpyrifos (36.2%) and fluazuron (24.8%); 53.8% using only a chemical basis. The most cited reason for making a change in the tick was the drop in efficiency (43.4%). Only 52.7% of the producers follow the indications of directions for diluting the product and 35.9% say they do not use any protection method. In 89.5% of farms, the milk is not discarded after the application of acaricides. There are severe faults in chemical control of ticks, favoring the early onset of resistance, poisoning of animals, workers and consumers. Regarding the importance of R. microplus, the majority of producers (60%) reported a feeling of satisfaction with the control performed on their properties. The producer realizes the damage caused by ticks, such as decrease in milk production (98.1%), and these credit losses to the hematophagous habit of the parasite (86.7%). Control of R. (B.) microplus is carried out empirically in the study area.