Profile of rural agroindustries in the microregions of Piauí

Resumo

The objective of this research was to analyze the profile of rural agro-industries in the microregions of Piauí state, Brazil. An exploratory approach was used for data from the Brazilian Agricultural Census of 2017 (Censo Agropecuário de 2017). To analyze the spatial clustering of rural agro-industries, the k-means algorithm clustering method was used; and to measure the degree of concentration, the index of Herfindahl-Hirschman was applied. The results showed a spatial clustering profile formed by two clusters, with productive similarities centered on the agro-industries of rice in grains, cassava flour, meat, charcoal, and starch or tapioca. As for the productive profile, the results showed the conditions of most landowners in agroindustrial establishments with predominance of family farmers benefiting from the Pronaf B – the microcredit group B of the national program for the strangthening of family farming (Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar, Microcrédito – Grupo B). Regarding the structure and conduct profile, the results showed the occurrence of a higher concentration of the charcoal agroindustry, in which the strategy of short chain is the most used in the process of production distribution by agro-industries. Therefore, the characteristic profile of rural agroindustries in the microregions of Piauí is formed by food agroindustries with family management. It is expected that this study can contribute, in some way, to the orientation of public policies aiming at the strengthening of the agroindustrial segment of small establishments.