Contribuições do Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso do Biodiesel sob a ótica das cooperativas de agricultores familiares do noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul.

Abstract

In recent years, the debate on welfare is on the rise in society, including the environmental, social, political, ethical, cultural and economic dimensions. In a context of crisis, or unsustainability, it is necessary and urgent to rethink the consumer habits, production models, production matrix and formats, in order to promote changes that contribute to increase agricultural sustainability, energy matrix, society as a whole. The National Biodiesel Use and Production Program (Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso do Biodiesel - PNPB) is iknown, after its tenth aniversary, as landmark in research and production of new energy sources and also to a broader set of issues related to family farming. This work has as its main objective to identify the contributions of the program for family farming through family farmer cooperatives of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil. The collected data is obtainded from information provided by the farmers cooperatives involved with the program for more than three years in the Northwest Region of Rio Grande do Sul. Among the reasons which attract these cooperatives to PNPB, the economic issues are seen as a factor directly liked to family farmers income, through bonus payments, and indirectly to the cooperative with a loyalty increased. Also, There was a poor contribution to the diversification of the biodiesel chain's regarding the diversification of food products of family farms as well as new raw materials for biodiesel production. However, it is clear that in general family farmers now have a closer attention to its various activities, to keep themselves as an active cooperative membership. As long as family farmers cooperatives are included in the PNPB program, the cooperatives are required to fulfill their technical assistance and rural extension needs. This, in turn, induced cooperatives to reorganize their related services departments and consequently provide and improve these services to their members.