As dinâmicas da produção de açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) conduzidas por agricultores familiares da comunidade Galiléia, Irituia - Pa

Abstract

Açai palm tree (Euterpe olearacea Mart.) originating in the eastern Amazon with highest occurrence in the Amazon estuary reaching between 10 and 25 meters. Its socioeconomic importance accrue from the potential due to the total exploitation of the material and because it is associated with agro extractivist family agriculture. Thus, the demand for this fruit has been growing and has been economically distinguished by the potential of its products, leading to the expansion of crop cultivation. In order to meet this demand, the management of the acai plantations has been adopted mainly to improve the productivity of the native areas, consisting of a set of specific techniques whose main objective is to improve the cultivation of the fruit aiming at the increase of productivity. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the dynamics of acai production conducted by the familiar farmers of the Galiléia community in Irituia-PA. It was observed that the productive system of the cultures in the area is diversified, the perennial crops are generally formed by the cultures of acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), Coconut (Cocos nucifera), citrus (Citrus sp.), passion fruit (Passiflora sp.), cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), papaya (Carica papaya), black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), banana (Musa sp.) and cocoa (Theobroma cacao). The community has gained recognition in the regional market for the significant supply of açaí to nearby localities such as São Miguel do Guamá and Irituia. In this context, our research has adopted qualitative-quantitative approaches and as methodological tools we use the landscape analysis, the field book and the semi-structured interviews to obtain information. Thus, we obtained a sample of 40 farmers from a universe of 76. The results showed that the economic dynamics of acai production works around the demand of consumption outside the community, and that although the production systems of acai present little heterogeneity, it was verified that in the conduction of the acai plantation for the fruit production prevails the intensified management. The community produced acai presents a significant increase for the local economy and for the subsistence of the farmers; however, it is necessary to spread the insertion of other native species that allow the farmers to obtain income in the high season and the off-season of the fruit, as well as contribute to the sustainability of systems.