Percepções de produtores rurais sobre a mudança climática e sua relação com a produção agropecuária

Abstract

It is considered that the present study and research reveals itself to be of great informative relevance for the context of rural production, which constitutes an activity of great expressiveness in Brazil, as well as in the southern region of the country, so that it is essential to acquire knowledge regarding the possibility of adaptations and actions to be implemented in the agricultural scenario due to the climatic conditions that may occur. Thus, the following problem arises: are rural producers' crops affected by climate change? Given the scenario experienced in recent months and in the recent season of the year regarding changes in climate patterns in which intense heat waves can be seen, which have become frequent in winter, and given the growing debates about climate impacts, which are capable of affecting even the economic scenario, the choice of the aforementioned theme is thus justified. The general objective of this work is to analyze the perceptions of rural producers about climate change in agriculture, identifying the demographic characteristics of these rural producers' crops. The specific objectives also involve the theoretical presentation of the history of agriculture, briefly addressing the context of agriculture, discussing the concepts about climate change, presenting approaches around global warming, climate change, the consequences of this change on agricultural crops and describing the possibilities of adaptations regarding the needs of agricultural maintenance resulting from climate change. The methods used involve carrying out a bibliographic study, of an exploratory and qualitative nature linked to field research, which involves the use of tools such as the questionnaire in order to obtain the desired data for the completion of this work and presentation of the results in a graphic and descriptive form. As a result, it is obtained that 99.1% have already suffered damages resulting from episodes of risk and threat during the time in which they carry out their agricultural activities, with 81.4% being affected by excessive rain, 77.9% facing long and prolonged periods of drought, 69.0% being affected by rain during the harvest period, 58.4% suffering frost in harsh winters, 53.1% being affected by flooding, 51.3% having their production affected by hail, and 39.8% facing periods of strong winds. It can therefore be observed that in the last five years 39.8% of participants experienced at least one episode, 37.2% were affected by 3 to 5 episodes and 23.0% said they had experienced more than 5 episodes within the period mentioned, given that regarding economic losses resulting from these episodes and climate events, all producers (100%) declared having been economically affected, given that their expenses would be paid with their own production. Therefore, 85.1% responded that unpredictable weather situations and extreme weather events are highly threatening to agricultural production, highlighting that in relation to opportunities and challenges in the face of climate change, 31.6% of participating producers responded that they consider there to be more challenges than opportunities.