Agricultores familiares e sistemas de produção de frutas em Itapuranga, Goiás

Abstract

Itapuranga, a municipality in the State of Goiás, Brazil, has a significant representation of the family agriculture developing fruit production systems, especially passion fruit, papaya, and banana. The objective of this research is to analyze the production systems of the Itapuranga family farmers. The methodology used in this case study is based on the agrarian systems theory. The research techniques used for data collection for the field work were documental search, interviews, and observations. At the beginning, the production systems of the family farmers from Itapuranga comprised diversified crops, primarily for family consumption and commercialization of the surplus. Starting from the 1990s, the family farmers began to develop production systems specialized in fruit crops, integrated with other crop systems and with the dairy cattle system. The research concludes that, despite its limitations, the fruit crop developed in Itapuranga offers excellent potential for sustainable family farming.